[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 95 (Thursday, July 14, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S8326]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. MURKOWSKI:
  S. 1409. A bill to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 
1996 to modify the grant program to improve sanitation in rural and 
Native villages in the State of Alaska; to the Committee on Environment 
and Public Works.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise to introduce a bill that will 
allow the Environmental Protection Agency to continue to provide grant 
funding and technical assistance to small, rural communities in Alaska 
for critical water and sewer projects. These rural communities are only 
accessible by either aircraft or boat.
  This important funding was originally authorized as part of the Safe 
Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 and was reauthorized in 2000. The 
authorization for this program expires at the end of fiscal year 2005. 
Every fiscal year, the EPA transfers funding authorized by this program 
to the State of Alaska's Village Safe Water Program, which is managed 
by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.
  The water and sewer conditions in the villages in Alaska that still 
need this critical funding rival the conditions in rural communities in 
third world countries. For example, residents in some villages in 
Alaska have to go to a central source in the community to get fresh 
water. This source is usually a well. Instead of flushing toilets, 
residents have to use a device called a ``honeybucket.'' This device is 
a large bucket with a toilet seat on top. When the honeybucket is full, 
it is usually dumped in a lagoon or on land. Sometimes, these dump 
locations are near sources of drinking water.
  The Village Safe Water program has been a success over the years. 
Many homes in Alaska's rural communities now have plumbing due to funds 
authorized by this program. However, thirty-three percent of homes in 
these communities still do not have in-house plumbing. It is 
unacceptable that the residents of these communities still do not have 
access to conventional plumbing in their homes in 2005.
  Earlier this year, the Office of Management and Budget published a 
Program Assessment Rating Tool report concerning this program. This 
report found several deficiencies concerning the administration of this 
program. However, I have been assured that the EPA and the Alaska 
Department of Environmental Conservation are working closely together 
to correct these deficiencies.
  It is imperative that we reauthorize this critically important 
program before the end of this fiscal year. The health and well-being 
of rural Alaskans is at stake.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of this bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1409

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

     SECTION 1. GRANTS TO ALASKA TO IMPROVE SANITATION IN RURAL 
                   AND NATIVE VILLAGES.

       Section 303 of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 
     1996 (33 U.S.C. 1263a) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (b), by striking ``50 percent'' and 
     inserting ``75 percent''; and
       (2) in subsection (e)--
       (A) by striking ``$40,000,000'' and inserting 
     ``$45,000,000''; and
       (B) by striking ``2005'' and inserting ``2010''.

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