[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 689 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 689

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to establish a program to provide 
 assistance to small communities for use in carrying out projects and 
 activities necessary to achieve or maintain compliance with drinking 
                            water standards.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 4, 2005

Mr. Domenici (for himself, Mr. Bingaman, and Mr. Hagel) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                      Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to establish a program to provide 
 assistance to small communities for use in carrying out projects and 
 activities necessary to achieve or maintain compliance with drinking 
                            water standards.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Community Drinking Water Assistance 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) drinking water standards proposed and in effect as of 
        the date of enactment of this Act will place a large financial 
        burden on many public water systems, especially those public 
        water systems in rural communities serving small populations;
            (2) the limited scientific, technical, and professional 
        resources available in small communities complicate the 
        implementation of regulatory requirements;
            (3) small communities often cannot afford to meet water 
        quality standards because of the expenses associated with 
        upgrading public water systems and training personnel to 
        operate and maintain the public water systems;
            (4) small communities do not have a tax base for dealing 
        with the costs of upgrading their public water systems;
            (5) small communities face high per capita costs in 
        improving drinking water quality;
            (6) small communities would greatly benefit from a grant 
        program designed to provide funding for water quality projects;
            (7) as of the date of enactment of this Act, there is no 
        Federal program in effect that adequately meets the needs of 
        small, primarily rural communities with respect to public water 
        systems; and
            (8) since new, more protective arsenic drinking water 
        standards proposed by the Clinton and Bush administrations, 
        respectively, are expected to be implemented in 2006, the grant 
        program established by the amendment made by this Act should be 
        implemented in a manner that ensures that the implementation of 
        those new standards is not delayed.

SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS.

    (a) Definition of Indian Tribe.--Section 1401(14) of the Safe 
Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f(14)) is amended in the second 
sentence by striking ``1452,'' and inserting ``1452 and part G,''.
    (b) Establishment of Program.--The Safe Drinking Water Act (42 
U.S.C. 300f et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

          ``PART G--ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS

``SEC. 1471. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this part:
            ``(1) Eligible activity.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `eligible activity' 
                means a project or activity concerning a small public 
                water system that is carried out by an eligible entity 
                to comply with drinking water standards.
                    ``(B) Inclusions.--The term `eligible activity' 
                includes--
                            ``(i) obtaining technical assistance; and
                            ``(ii) training and certifying operators of 
                        small public water systems.
                    ``(C) Exclusion.--The term `eligible activity' does 
                not include any project or activity to increase the 
                population served by a small public water system, 
                except to the extent that the Administrator determines 
                such a project or activity to be necessary to--
                            ``(i) achieve compliance with a national 
                        primary drinking water regulation; and
                            ``(ii) provide a water supply to a 
                        population that, as of the date of enactment of 
                        this part, is not served by a safe public water 
                        system.
            ``(2) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means a 
        small public water system that--
                    ``(A) is located in a State or an area governed by 
                an Indian Tribe; and
                    ``(B)(i) if located in a State, serves a community 
                that, under affordability criteria established by the 
                State under section 1452(d)(3), is determined by the 
                State to be--
                            ``(I) a disadvantaged community; or
                            ``(II) a community that may become a 
                        disadvantaged community as a result of carrying 
                        out an eligible activity; or
                    ``(ii) if located in an area governed by an Indian 
                Tribe, serves a community that is determined by the 
                Administrator, under affordability criteria published 
                by the Administrator under section 1452(d)(3) and in 
                consultation with the Secretary, to be--
                            ``(I) a disadvantaged community; or
                            ``(II) a community that the Administrator 
                        expects to become a disadvantaged community as 
                        a result of carrying out an eligible activity.
            ``(3) Program.--The term `Program' means the small public 
        water assistance program established under section 1472(a).
            ``(4) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of 
        the Indian Health Service.
            ``(5) Small public water system.--The term `small public 
        water system' means a public water system (including a 
        community water system and a noncommunity water system) that 
        serves--
                    ``(A) a community with a population of not more 
                than 200,000 individuals; or
                    ``(B) a public water system located in--
                            ``(i) Bernalillo or Sandoval County, New 
                        Mexico;
                            ``(ii) Scottsdale, Arizona;
                            ``(iii) Mesquite or Washoe County, Nevada; 
                        or
                            ``(iv) El Paso County, Texas.

``SEC. 1472. SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Establishment.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this part, the Administrator shall establish a 
        program to provide grants to eligible entities for use in 
        carrying out projects and activities to comply with drinking 
        water standards.
            ``(2) Priority.--Subject to paragraph (3), the 
        Administrator shall award grants under the Program to eligible 
        entities based on--
                    ``(A) first, the financial need of the community 
                for the grant assistance, as determined by the 
                Administrator; and
                    ``(B) second, with respect to the community in 
                which the eligible entity is located, the per capita 
                cost of complying with drinking water standards, as 
                determined by the Administrator.
            ``(3) Small communities.--In making grants under this 
        section, the Administrator shall ensure that not less than 20 
        percent of grant funds provided for each fiscal year are used 
        to carry out eligible activities in communities with a 
        population of less than 50,000 individuals.
    ``(b) Application Process.--
            ``(1) In general.--An eligible entity that seeks to receive 
        a grant under the Program shall submit to the Administrator, on 
        such form as the Administrator shall prescribe (not to exceed 3 
        pages in length), an application to receive the grant.
            ``(2) Components.--The application shall include--
                    ``(A) a description of the eligible activities for 
                which the grant is needed;
                    ``(B) a description of the efforts made by the 
                eligible entity, as of the date of submission of the 
                application, to comply with drinking water standards; 
                and
                    ``(C) any other information required to be included 
                by the Administrator.
            ``(3) Review and approval of applications.--
                    ``(A) In general.--On receipt of an application 
                under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall forward 
                the application to the Council.
                    ``(B) Approval or disapproval.--Not later than 90 
                days after receiving the recommendations of the Council 
                under subsection (e) concerning an application, after 
                taking into consideration the recommendations, the 
                Administrator shall--
                            ``(i) approve the application and award a 
                        grant to the applicant; or
                            ``(ii) disapprove the application.
                    ``(C) Resubmission.--If the Administrator 
                disapproves an application under subparagraph (B)(ii), 
                the Administrator shall--
                            ``(i) inform the applicant in writing of 
                        the disapproval (including the reasons for the 
                        disapproval); and
                            ``(ii) provide to the applicant a deadline 
                        by which the applicant may revise and resubmit 
                        the application.
    ``(c) Cost Sharing.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        Federal share of the cost of carrying out an eligible activity 
        using funds from a grant provided under the Program shall not 
        exceed 90 percent.
            ``(2) Waiver.--The Administrator may waive the requirement 
        to pay the non-Federal share of the cost of carrying out an 
        eligible activity using funds from a grant provided under the 
        Program if the Administrator determines that an eligible entity 
        is unable to pay, or would experience significant financial 
        hardship if required to pay, the non-Federal share.
    ``(d) Enforcement and Implementation of Standards.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the 
        Administrator shall not enforce any standard for drinking water 
        under this Act (including a regulation promulgated under this 
        Act) against an eligible entity during the period beginning on 
        the date on which the eligible entity submits an application 
        for a grant under the Program and ending, as applicable, on--
                    ``(A) the deadline specified in subsection 
                (b)(3)(C)(ii), if the application is disapproved and 
                not resubmitted; or
                    ``(B) the date that is 3 years after the date on 
                which the eligible entity receives a grant under this 
                part, if the application is approved.
            ``(2) Arsenic standards.--No standard for arsenic in 
        drinking water promulgated under this Act (including a standard 
        in any regulation promulgated before the date of enactment of 
        this part) shall be implemented or enforced by the 
        Administrator in any State until the earlier of January 1, 2006 
        or such date as the Administrator certifies to Congress that--
                    ``(A) the Program has been implemented in the 
                State; and
                    ``(B) the State has made substantial progress, as 
                determined by the Administrator in consultation with 
                the Governor of the State, in complying with drinking 
                water standards under this Act.
    ``(e) Role of Council.--The Council shall--
            ``(1) review applications for grants from eligible entities 
        received by the Administrator under subsection (b);
            ``(2) for each application, recommend to the Administrator 
        whether the application should be approved or disapproved; and
            ``(3) take into consideration priority lists developed by 
        States for the use of drinking water treatment revolving loan 
        funds under section 1452.

``SEC. 1473. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part 
$1,900,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2011.''.
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