[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6313 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6313

   To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize the technical 
               assistance to small public water systems.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 19, 2008

Mr. Etheridge introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize the technical 
               assistance to small public water systems.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that:
            (1) The 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act 
        (Public Law 104-182, 42 U.S.C. 300j-1) authorized technical 
        assistance for small and rural communities to assist them with 
        compliance with rules and regulations promulgated under the 
        Safe Drinking Water Act. Technical assistance and compliance 
        training ensures that Federal regulations don't overwhelm small 
        and rural communities' resources. It also allows small 
        communities lacking technical resources access to assistance 
        necessary to improve and protect their water resources.
            (2) Under this authorization locally supported technical 
        assistance initiatives have been operating nationwide for the 
        past three decades and have been the main source of compliance 
        and assistance for small and rural communities to meet Federal 
        standards. Without these initiatives, effective implementation 
        of the Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act in rural 
        areas would be nearly impossible.
            (3) Across the States over 90 percent of the community 
        water systems serve a population less than 10,000. Small 
        communities have the greatest difficulty providing safe, 
        affordable public drinking water and wastewater services due to 
        limited economies of scale and less technical expertise.
            (4) In addition, extending the Safe Drinking Water Act's 
        authorization, this legislation would require that the 
        Environmental Protection Agency prioritize technical assistance 
        funding to organizations that have the most support of each 
        State's local communities. Having the local support is the 
        fundamental key to making the Federal funding (the Federal 
        assistance initiatives) work in small and rural communities. 
        This will ensure that any funding used for technical assistance 
        initiatives will work best and result in the most benefit to 
        each State's local small and rural communities.
            (5) In addition to being the main source of compliance 
        assistance, rural water technical assistance has been the main 
        source of assistance in emergency response in small and rural 
        communities. Rural water technicians were the lead assistance 
        in Greensburg, Kansas, in restoring the drinking water and 
        sanitary sewer service to that tornado-stricken small community 
        (by providing water to the temporary hospital, housing units, 
        and the community in time). This was also the case in the 
        response to the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast where the hundreds 
        of small and rural communities relied on assistance from the 
        local and surrounding State rural water associations for 
        immediate assistance in restoring drinking water and sanitation 
        service.

SEC. 2. FUNDING PRIORITIES.

    Section 1442(e) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j-
1(e)) is amended as follows:
            (1) In the fifth sentence by striking ``15,000,000'' and 
        inserting ``20,000,000'' and by striking ``1997 through 2003'' 
        and inserting ``2009 through 2013''.
            (2) By inserting ``(1)'' after ``(e) Technical 
        Assistance.--'' and by adding the following new paragraph at 
        the end thereof:
    ``(2) The Administrator may provide technical assistance, under 
this subsection, to organizations providing on-site technical 
assistance, circuit-rider technical assistance programs, on-site and 
regional training, assistance with implementing source water protection 
plans, and assistance with implementation monitoring plans, rules, 
regulations, and water security enhancements. To assure technical 
assistance funding under this subsection is used in a manner most 
beneficial to small communities in each State, the Administrator shall 
give preference to nonprofit organizations that, as determined by the 
Administrator, are qualified, effective, and have the most support (or 
a majority of support) from small water systems in the States.''.
                                 <all>