[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 3 (Monday, January 8, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S239]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. MURKOWSKI:
  S. 199. A bill to amend the Safe Drinking Water 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 remote communities in Alaska for 
critical water and sewer projects. These remote 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. 
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. Instead of flushing toilets, residents of some villages 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 remote communities now have plumbing due to 
funds authorized by this program. However, 34 percent of homes in these 
communities still do not have indoor plumbing. It is unacceptable that 
these Americans still do not have access to conventional plumbing in 
their homes in 2007.
  Previously, 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. In response to that report, the Alaska Department of 
Environmental Conservation has put in place several changes to correct 
these deficiencies, including hiring additional accounting staff and 
initiating a memorandum of understanding with EPA Region 10 regarding 
program procedures and requirements.
  This legislation reauthorizes the program through fiscal year 2010 
and increases the authorized funding level from $40 million to $42 
million, a modest five percent increase. Also, the legislation requires 
the State of Alaska to mandate that grant recipients clearly identify 
the scope and the goal of the project for which funding is sought and 
how the funds will be used to meet the specific, stated goal of the 
project; establish long-term goals for the program and carry out 
regular reviews of grantees to determine if the stated scope and goal 
of each grant are being met. This bill also requires the State of 
Alaska to submit an annual report to the EPA that addresses these 
issues. If a project-specific problem included in the report is not 
rectified within an amount of time agreed to by the State of Alaska and 
the EPA or if both entities are not able to agree on a timetable to fix 
the problem, the EPA will not disburse any additional funding for the 
project in question.
  It is imperative that we reauthorize this critically important 
program soon. 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.
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