[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 44 (Monday, March 16, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1530-S1531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mrs. Boxer, and Mr. Reid):
S. 741. A bill to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency to establish a program of awarding grants to owners
or operators of water systems to increase the resiliency or
adaptability of the systems to any ongoing or forecasted changes to the
hydrologic conditions of a region of the United States; to the
Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to introduce the
Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act with colleagues
the Democratic Leader and the Ranking Member of the Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee. The condition of our water infrastructure
is in a state of crisis that is only exacerbated by the effects of
climate change. The longer we ignore the problem, the more it costs us.
The truth is that we are in a crisis that can be averted. There is no
need to lose revenue from disrupted business and flooded streets. Our
water infrastructure may be buried and out of sight and out of mind;
but today we must elevate these systems to the priority level they
deserve.
Each year within my home State of Maryland I witness stark reminders
of what cities across the nation are facing. In July of last year,
Prince George's County, Maryland, experienced a breakdown of its most
essential public infrastructure when a water main serving 100,000
people began to fail. Mandatory water restrictions were instituted,
limiting access to water for homes and businesses during an intense
heat wave that saw the heat index repeatedly reach the triple digits.
At the National Harbor, one hotel evacuated three thousand guests and
was forced to cancel upcoming reservations. Included in the affected
area is Joint Base Andrews, which publicized plans to shut down a long
list of services, including appointments at its medical center.
There are incidents like this happening across America. The reports
are startling. They confirm what every water utility professional
knows: we need massive reinvestment in our water infrastructure now and
over the coming decades. The Nation's drinking water infrastructure--
especially the underground pipes that deliver safe drinking water to
America's homes and businesses--is aging. Like many of the roads,
bridges, and other public assets on which the country relies, most of
our buried drinking water infrastructure was built 50 or more years
ago, in the post-World War II era of rapid demographic change and
economic growth. Some of our systems are even older; in Baltimore,
where I live, many of the pipes were installed in the 1800s. Some of
these ``pipes'' are wooden. We need investment to deal with changing
population needs and changing hydrological conditions. We have no other
choice but to elevate it to a public safety priority and to take action
now.
The Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act aims to
help local communities meet the challenges of upgrading water
infrastructure systems to meet the hydrological changes we are seeing
today. The bill directs the EPA to establish a Water Infrastructure
Resiliency and Sustainability program. Grants will be awarded to
eligible water systems to make the necessary upgrades. Communities
across the country will be able to compete for Federal matching funds,
which in turn will help finance projects to help communities overcome
these threats.
Improving water conservation, adjustments to current infrastructure
systems, and funding programs to stabilize communities' existing water
supply are all projects WIRS grants will fund. WIRS will never grant
more than 50 percent of any project's cost, ensuring cooperation
between local communities and the federal government. The EPA will try
to award funds that use new and innovative ideas as often as possible.
It is estimated that by 2020, the forecasted deficit for sustaining
water delivery and wastewater treatment infrastructure, will trigger a
$206 billion increase in costs for businesses. In a worst case
scenario, a lack of water infrastructure investment will cause the
United States to lose nearly 700,000 jobs by 2020.
A healthy water infrastructure system is as important to America's
economy as paved roads and sturdy bridges. Water and wastewater
investment has been shown to spur economic growth. The U.S. Conference
of Mayors has found that for every dollar invested in water
infrastructure, the Gross Domestic Product is increased to more than
$6. The Department of Commerce has found that that same dollar yields
close to $3 worth of economic output in other industries. Every job
created in local water and sewer industries creates close to four jobs
elsewhere in the national economy.
We know that a reactive mode causes us to lose billions in revenue in
the short-term. Let us instead take a proactive approach, making
strategic investments in innovative projects designed to meet the
current and future needs of our water systems. That is the purpose of
the Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 741
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 ``Water Infrastructure
Resiliency and Sustainability Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) Hydrologic condition.--The term ``hydrologic
condition'' means the quality, quantity, or reliability of
the water resources of a region of the United States.
(3) Owner or operator of a water system.--
(A) In general.--The term ``owner or operator of a water
system'' means an entity (including a regional, State,
tribal, local, municipal, or private entity) that owns or
operates a water system.
(B) Inclusions.--The term ``owner or operator of a water
system'' includes--
(i) a non-Federal entity that has operational
responsibilities for a federally, tribally, or State-owned
water system; and
(ii) an entity established by an agreement between--
(I) an entity that owns or operates a water system; and
(II) at least 1 other entity.
(4) Water system.--The term ``water system'' means--
(A) a community water system (as defined in section 1401 of
the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f));
(B) a treatment works (as defined in section 212 of the
Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1292)),
including a municipal separate storm sewer system (as that
term is used in that Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.));
(C) a decentralized wastewater treatment system for
domestic sewage;
(D) a groundwater storage and replenishment system;
(E) a system for transport and delivery of water for
irrigation or conservation; or
(F) a natural or engineered system that manages floodwater.
SEC. 3. WATER INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCY AND SUSTAINABILITY.
(a) Program.--The Administrator shall establish and
implement a program, to be known as the ``Water
Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Program'', under
which the Administrator shall award grants for each of fiscal
years 2015 through 2019 to owners or operators of water
systems for the purpose of increasing the resiliency or
adaptability of the water systems to any ongoing or
forecasted changes (based on the best available research and
data) to the hydrologic conditions of a region of the United
States.
(b) Use of Funds.--As a condition on receipt of a grant
under this Act, an owner or operator of a water system shall
agree to use the grant funds exclusively to assist in the
planning, design, construction, implementation, operation, or
maintenance of a program or project that meets the purpose
described in subsection (a) by--
(1) conserving water or enhancing water use efficiency,
including through the use of water metering and electronic
sensing and control systems to measure the effectiveness of a
water efficiency program;
(2) modifying or relocating existing water system
infrastructure made or projected to be significantly impaired
by changing hydrologic conditions;
[[Page S1531]]
(3) preserving or improving water quality, including
through measures to manage, reduce, treat, or reuse municipal
stormwater, wastewater, or drinking water;
(4) investigating, designing, or constructing groundwater
remediation, recycled water, or desalination facilities or
systems to serve existing communities;
(5) enhancing water management by increasing watershed
preservation and protection, such as through the use of
natural or engineered green infrastructure in the management,
conveyance, or treatment of water, wastewater, or stormwater;
(6) enhancing energy efficiency or the use and generation
of renewable energy in the management, conveyance, or
treatment of water, wastewater, or stormwater;
(7) supporting the adoption and use of advanced water
treatment, water supply management (such as reservoir
reoperation and water banking), or water demand management
technologies, projects, or processes (such as water reuse and
recycling, adaptive conservation pricing, and groundwater
banking) that maintain or increase water supply or improve
water quality;
(8) modifying or replacing existing systems or constructing
new systems for existing communities or land that is being
used for agricultural production to improve water supply,
reliability, storage, or conveyance in a manner that--
(A) promotes conservation or improves the efficiency of use
of available water supplies; and
(B) does not further exacerbate stresses on ecosystems or
cause redirected impacts by degrading water quality or
increasing net greenhouse gas emissions;
(9) supporting practices and projects, such as improved
irrigation systems, water banking and other forms of water
transactions, groundwater recharge, stormwater capture,
groundwater conjunctive use, and reuse or recycling of
drainage water, to improve water quality or promote more
efficient water use on land that is being used for
agricultural production;
(10) reducing flood damage, risk, and vulnerability by--
(A) restoring floodplains, wetland, and upland integral to
flood management, protection, prevention, and response;
(B) modifying levees, floodwalls, and other structures
through setbacks, notches, gates, removal, or similar means
to facilitate reconnection of rivers to floodplains, reduce
flood stage height, and reduce damage to properties and
populations;
(C) providing for acquisition and easement of flood-prone
land and properties in order to reduce damage to property and
risk to populations; or
(D) promoting land use planning that prevents future
floodplain development;
(11) conducting and completing studies or assessments to
project how changing hydrologic conditions may impact the
future operations and sustainability of water systems; or
(12) developing and implementing measures to increase the
resilience of water systems and regional and hydrological
basins, including the Colorado River Basin, to rapid
hydrologic change or a natural disaster (such as tsunami,
earthquake, flood, or volcanic eruption).
(c) Application.--To seek a grant under this Act, the owner
or operator of a water system shall submit to the
Administrator an application that--
(1) includes a proposal for the program, strategy, or
infrastructure improvement to be planned, designed,
constructed, implemented, or maintained by the water system;
(2) provides the best available research or data that
demonstrate--
(A) the risk to the water resources or infrastructure of
the water system as a result of ongoing or forecasted changes
to the hydrologic system of a region, including rising sea
levels and changes in precipitation patterns; and
(B) the manner in which the proposed program, strategy, or
infrastructure improvement would perform under the
anticipated hydrologic conditions;
(3) describes the manner in which the proposed program,
strategy, or infrastructure improvement is expected--
(A) to enhance the resiliency of the water system,
including source water protection for community water
systems, to the anticipated hydrologic conditions; or
(B) to increase efficiency in the use of energy or water of
the water system; and
(4) describes the manner in which the proposed program,
strategy, or infrastructure improvement is consistent with an
applicable State, tribal, or local climate adaptation plan,
if any.
(d) Priority.--
(1) Water systems at greatest and most immediate risk.--In
selecting grantees under this Act, subject to section 4(b),
the Administrator shall give priority to owners or operators
of water systems that are, based on the best available
research and data, at the greatest and most immediate risk of
facing significant negative impacts due to changing
hydrologic conditions.
(2) Goals.--In selecting among applicants described in
paragraph (1), the Administrator shall ensure that, to the
maximum extent practicable, the final list of applications
funded for each year includes a substantial number that
propose to use innovative approaches to meet 1 or more of the
following goals:
(A) Promoting more efficient water use, water conservation,
water reuse, or recycling.
(B) Using decentralized, low-impact development
technologies and nonstructural approaches, including
practices that use, enhance, or mimic the natural
hydrological cycle or protect natural flows.
(C) Reducing stormwater runoff or flooding by protecting or
enhancing natural ecosystem functions.
(D) Modifying, upgrading, enhancing, or replacing existing
water system infrastructure in response to changing
hydrologic conditions.
(E) Improving water quality or quantity for agricultural
and municipal uses, including through salinity reduction.
(F) Providing multiple benefits, including to water supply
enhancement or demand reduction, water quality protection or
improvement, increased flood protection, and ecosystem
protection or improvement.
(e) Cost-Sharing Requirement.--
(1) Federal share.--The share of the cost of any program,
strategy, or infrastructure improvement that is the subject
of a grant awarded by the Administrator to the owner or
operator of a water system under subsection (a) paid through
funds distributed under this Act shall not exceed 50 percent
of the cost of the program, strategy, or infrastructure
improvement.
(2) Calculation of non-federal share.--In calculating the
non-Federal share of the cost of a program, strategy, or
infrastructure improvement proposed by a water system in an
application submitted under subsection (c), the Administrator
shall--
(A) include the value of any in-kind services that are
integral to the completion of the program, strategy, or
infrastructure improvement, including reasonable
administrative and overhead costs; and
(B) not include any other amount that the water system
involved receives from the Federal Government.
(f) Davis-Bacon Compliance.--
(1) In general.--All laborers and mechanics employed by
contractors and subcontractors on projects funded directly by
or assisted in whole or in part by this Act shall be paid
wages at rates not less than those prevailing on projects of
a character similar in the locality as determined by the
Secretary of Labor in accordance with subchapter IV of
chapter 31 of part A of subtitle II of title 40, United
States Code (commonly referred to as the ``Davis-Bacon
Act'').
(2) Authority.--With respect to the labor standards
specified in this subsection, the Secretary of Labor shall
have the authority and functions set forth in Reorganization
Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (64 Stat. 1267; 5 U.S.C. App.) and
section 3145 of title 40, United States Code.
(g) Report to Congress.--Not later than 3 years after the
date of enactment of this Act, and every 3 years thereafter,
the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report that--
(1) describes the progress in implementing this Act; and
(2) includes information on project applications received
and funded annually under this Act.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this Act $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2015
through 2019.
(b) Reduction of Flood Damage, Risk, and Vulnerability.--Of
the amount made available to carry out this Act for a fiscal
year, not more than 20 percent may be made available to
grantees for activities described in subsection (b)(10).
______