1.
This Act may be cited as the
Community Drinking Water Assistance
Act
.
2.
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.
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)
The Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.) is amended
by adding at the end the following:
G
Assistance for small public water systems
1471.
In this part:
(1)
(A)
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)
The term eligible activity includes—
(i)
obtaining technical assistance; and
(ii)
training and certifying operators of small public water
systems.
(C)
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)
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)
The term Program means the small public water
assistance program established under section 1472(a).
(4)
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.
1472.
Small public water system assistance Program
(a)
(1)
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)
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)
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)
(1)
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)
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)
On receipt of an application under paragraph (1), the
Administrator shall forward the application to the Council.
(B)
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)
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)
(1)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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.
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.
.