[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 172 (Monday, November 30, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H8418-H8420]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   GRASSROOTS RURAL AND SMALL COMMUNITY WATER SYSTEMS ASSISTANCE ACT

  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (S. 611) to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize 
technical assistance to small public water systems, and for other 
purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                 S. 611

       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 ``Grassroots Rural and Small 
     Community Water Systems Assistance Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 (Public 
     Law 104-182) authorized technical assistance for small and 
     rural communities to assist those communities in complying 
     with regulations promulgated pursuant to the Safe Drinking 
     Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.);
       (2) technical assistance and compliance training--
       (A) ensures that Federal regulations do not overwhelm the 
     resources of small and rural communities; and
       (B) provides small and rural communities lacking technical 
     resources with the necessary skills to improve and protect 
     water resources;
       (3) across the United States, more than 90 percent of the 
     community water systems serve a population of less than 
     10,000 individuals;
       (4) small and rural communities have the greatest 
     difficulty providing safe, affordable public drinking water 
     and wastewater services due to limited economies of scale and 
     lack of technical expertise; and
       (5) in addition to being the main source of compliance 
     assistance, small and rural water technical assistance has 
     been the main source of emergency response assistance in 
     small and rural communities.

     SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) to assist small and rural communities most effectively, 
     the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
     should prioritize the types of technical assistance that are 
     most beneficial to those communities, based on input from 
     those communities; and
       (2) local support is the key to making Federal assistance 
     initiatives work in small and rural communities to the 
     maximum benefit.

     SEC. 4. FUNDING PRIORITIES.

       Section 1442(e) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 
     300j-1(e)) is amended--
       (1) by designating the first through seventh sentences as 
     paragraphs (1) through (7), respectively;
       (2) in paragraph (5) (as so designated), by striking ``1997 
     through 2003'' and inserting ``2015 through 2020''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(8) Nonprofit organizations.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Administrator may use amounts made 
     available to carry out this section to provide grants or 
     cooperative agreements to nonprofit organizations that 
     provide to small public water systems onsite technical 
     assistance, circuit-rider technical assistance programs, 
     multistate, regional technical assistance programs, onsite 
     and regional training, assistance with implementing source 
     water protection plans, and assistance with implementing 
     monitoring plans, rules, regulations, and water security 
     enhancements.
       ``(B) Preference.--To ensure that technical assistance 
     funding is used in a manner that is most beneficial to the 
     small and rural communities of a State, the Administrator 
     shall give preference under this paragraph to nonprofit 
     organizations that, as determined by the Administrator, are 
     the most qualified and experienced in providing training and 
     technical assistance to small public water systems and that 
     the small community water systems in that State find to be 
     the most beneficial and effective.
       ``(C) Limitation.--No grant or cooperative agreement 
     provided or otherwise made available under this section may 
     be used for litigation pursuant to section 1449.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois.


                             General Leave

  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and insert extraneous materials in the Record on the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to take a few minutes to explain why we are 
pushing this bill and what the bill does.
  The smallest water systems of our country account for 77 percent of 
all systems. These smaller and rural communities, with populations of 
10,000 or less, have a high percentage of systems in significant 
noncompliance with drinking water regulations and face significant 
challenges in maintaining,

[[Page H8419]]

replacing, or upgrading aging and obsolete drinking water and 
wastewater infrastructure.
  A major source of financial stress for small and rural drinking water 
supply systems is compliance with a number of drinking water 
regulations issued by the Environmental Protection Agency under the 
Safe Drinking Water Act.
  Unlike water systems in larger markets, these same small and rural 
communities do not have the rate base or access to capital markets to 
fund the cost of some projects and still maintain affordable rates. As 
a result, these communities depend heavily on Federal and State grants 
and subsidized loan programs to finance their needs.
  Many times, simply giving them more money is not the answer. These 
communities may need access to technical professionals to help find the 
most cost-effective way to meet these new standards. Technical 
assistance offered by EPA has historically enabled small public water 
systems to identify affordable repair and replacement options for their 
systems.
  Currently, section 1442(e) of the Safe Drinking Water Act provides 
EPA authority to provide technical assistance to ``small public water 
systems'' to enable these systems to achieve and maintain compliance 
with applicable Federal drinking water regulations and to help small 
public water systems respond to environmental stressors, including 
through ``circuit-rider'' and multi-State regional technical assistance 
programs, training, and preliminary engineering evaluations.
  S. 611 reauthorizes EPA's technical assistance program through 2020 
for small public water systems, maintaining the existing funding level 
of $15 million annually, including 3 percent for technical assistance 
to public water systems owned and operated by Indian tribes.
  In addition, S. 611 authorizes EPA funding under section 1442 of the 
Safe Drinking Water Act. This funding is used to provide grants or 
cooperative agreements to nonprofit organizations to provide technical 
assistance to small public water systems. This technical assistance 
will help these systems achieve and maintain compliance with national 
primary drinking water regulations.
  These grants or cooperative agreements are supposed to go to 
nonprofits with a history of providing certain types of on-site 
technical assistance and training, and EPA should give preference to 
those nonprofits that the Administrator determines are most qualified 
and experienced in providing training and technical assistance to small 
public water systems that small public water systems find most 
beneficial and effective.
  Finally, S. 611 prohibits these grants and cooperative agreements 
from being used to bring a citizen suit under the Safe Drinking Water 
Act.
  The Senate passed this bill by unanimous consent. The Energy and 
Commerce Committee reported it by voice vote. Our strong vote today 
sends this bill right to the White House and, I expect, into law.
  I urge all Members to support S. 611.
  And I want to thank the ranking member, Mr. Tonko, and the gentleman 
from Mississippi (Mr. Harper), my colleague, for their diligence in 
pushing this legislation forward.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I too rise in support of S. 611, the Grassroots Rural and Small 
Community Water Systems Assistance Act. This legislation will 
reauthorize funding to nonprofits that provide technical assistance to 
small public water systems under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
  Small and rural water systems face unique challenges. These systems 
have a smaller rate base, making it difficult to afford necessary 
upgrades and maintenance, and often lack the expertise to comply with 
national drinking water standards.
  S. 611 will prioritize funding to nonprofits that provide technical 
assistance to these small public water systems, giving them the needed 
expertise to tackle these challenges. This is a small but a very 
important step towards resolving our Nation's drinking water problems.
  As we know, aging infrastructure, problems with source water quality, 
and limited budgets are taking a toll on drinking water systems. The 
changing climate is creating further challenges. Public water systems 
are facing extreme conditions that are endangering our drinking water. 
Severe storms, algal blooms, extreme droughts, and saltwater intrusion 
are some of the examples of the conditions these systems face, all of 
which are affecting public water systems' ability to provide safe 
drinking water to our communities.
  Small public water systems rely on technical assistance from 
nonprofit organizations to navigate everything from routine maintenance 
to managing these complex situations to ensure that the water that they 
provide is safe for their consumers.
  S. 611 is one step of many that we must take to address our Nation's 
drinking water issues. Our Nation's water systems serve over 272 
million people, and, according to EPA, they require infrastructure 
investments of $334 billion over the next 17 years.
  I look forward to continued bipartisan support for water-related 
legislation, including reauthorization of the Safe Drinking Water Act 
and State Revolving Fund, so that we can address the myriad of issues 
that are facing our drinking water systems.
  I would like also to thank Environment and the Economy Subcommittee 
Ranking Member Tonko and Representative Harper for their work on this 
important issue.
  I urge my colleagues to vote in support of this measure.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, the State of Mississippi has led in this 
legislation from our former colleague, now-Senator Roger Wicker.
  I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Harper), the 
author on the House side of the committee.
  Mr. HARPER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.
  Across our country, over 90 percent of community water systems serve 
a population of less than 10,000. The 1996 amendments to the Safe 
Drinking Water Act authorized technical assistance for small and rural 
communities to assist them in complying with rules and regulations 
promulgated under the act.
  This important technical assistance and compliance training ensures 
that Federal regulations do not overwhelm the resources of small and 
rural communities. It also allows small communities access to 
assistance which is necessary to improve and protect their water 
resources. Without these initiatives, effective implementation of the 
Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act in rural areas would be 
nearly impossible.
  In addition to being the main source of compliance assistance, rural 
water technical assistance has been invaluable in emergency responses 
in small and rural communities.
  Rural water technicians led the assistance effort in the wake of 
Hurricane Katrina, where hundreds of communities relied on assistance 
from the local and surrounding State rural water associations for 
immediate assistance in restoring drinking water and sanitation 
services.
  S. 611, the Grassroots Rural and Small Community Water Systems 
Assistance Act, would help ensure that this technical assistance 
continues.
  As the author of the House companion bill, H.R. 2853, I appreciate 
the Energy and Commerce Committee's commitment to this issue and 
especially want to thank Chairman Shimkus and Ranking Member Tonko and 
the entire Environment and Economy Subcommittee staff for the time and 
effort they have invested in discussions, negotiations, legislative 
hearings, and markup of this legislation.
  Throughout this process, my friend Kirby Mayfield, who is the 
executive director of the Mississippi Rural Water Association, and Mike 
Keegan with the National Rural Water Association and others have 
provided a wealth of knowledge in helping to develop and shepherd this 
legislation.
  I would also like to thank Senator Roger Wicker and his staff for 
sharing my deep interest in this issue and for authoring S. 611 and 
working towards its passage in the Senate and in the House.
  Again, Mr. Speaker, thank you for your attention to this issue that 
affects so many of our constituents.
  I encourage all Members to support S. 611.

[[Page H8420]]

  

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko), a distinguished member of the 
Energy and Commerce Committee and ranking member of the Subcommittee on 
the Environment and the Economy. And I thank him for his work on this 
piece of legislation.
  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland for 
yielding.
  I rise in support of this bill. S. 611, the Grassroots Rural and 
Small Community Water Systems Assistance Act, reauthorizes a small but 
important program that delivers technical assistance and training to 
our community water systems.
  I want to thank Representative Harper for introducing H.R. 2853, the 
House companion bill to Senator Wicker's bill, and I am proud to be a 
cosponsor of that legislation.
  I also want to thank Chairman Upton, our Ranking Member Pallone, 
Chairman Shimkus, and the Energy and Commerce staff for working with us 
on report language to clarify language in this bill so that we can 
indeed provide a wide range of technical assistance that would help 
small water systems, such as source water protection, system monitoring 
and efficiency, sustainability, and water security aspects.
  Many small and rural communities, with populations of 10,000 or less, 
face challenges in maintaining and upgrading aging water 
infrastructure. The ratepayer base for these small systems simply does 
not provide a sufficient operating budget to support full-time 
technical positions.
  Source water quality problems, resulting in system shutdowns and 
expensive treatment processes, are an increasing problem for far too 
many public water systems due to inadequate attention to nonpoint 
source pollution.
  In other areas, drought has affected both water quality and quantity, 
challenging the ability of water utilities to meet their basic service 
obligations.
  Technical assistance for small systems is essential to finding the 
most cost-effective solutions to these problems. I know that the 
Circuit Rider program in New York serves many small public water 
systems and provides essential technical support to small system 
operators.
  S. 611 would authorize the appropriation of $15 million annually, 
from 2016 to 2020, for the Environmental Protection Agency's program 
that provides technical assistance to these given systems.
  The previous authorization for this program expired back in 2003. It 
has been nearly 20 years since we last authorized this program, along 
with the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, the SRF, the primary 
source of Federal funding for water infrastructure.
  The Drinking Water SRF's authorization also expired in 2003. It too 
needs to be reauthorized and at a higher level than was provided in 
2003 to support all systems, small and large, to make the necessary 
repairs and the necessary upgrades.

                              {time}  1615

  Across our country, we experience over 700 water main breaks per 
day--700 per day--breaks that result in losses of treated water, not 
just water that is lost in those breaks, but consumer tax dollars and 
rate dollars, and with a growing backlog of drinking water 
infrastructure needs, estimated at $384.2 billion over the next 20 
years in the EPA's fifth national assessment of public water system 
infrastructure needs. That indeed is staggering.
  It is clear we should be doing much more to assist our States and 
water utilities to reduce this backlog. Recently we came together to 
pass a bipartisan, long-term surface transportation bill. It had the 
overwhelming bipartisan support of this House.
  Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that our roads and bridges are in 
desperate need of investment. But we cannot forget about the hidden 
infrastructure, the critical, unseen, out-of-sight and out-of-mind 
infrastructure that we rely upon to deliver safe, reliable, and 
affordable drinking water. We have neglected this essential 
infrastructure for far too long already. It, too, needs more Federal 
funding and a long-term reauthorization.
  Infrastructure does not repair itself. It does not improve with age. 
Our inaction is only adding to the expenses of State and local 
governments and forcing increases in water utility rates for given 
consumers.
  Mr. Speaker, S. 611 is a good bill and a good start. I urge my 
colleagues to support this bill, but I hope we use this opportunity as 
a challenge, as a challenge to recognize that this is just the 
beginning of the drinking water infrastructure issues that we face. We 
must come together to reauthorize the Drinking Water State Revolving 
Fund.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Speaker, again I want to urge my colleagues to 
support this important measure, S. 611.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, there is a lot to be done on 
infrastructure, and safe drinking water is among those important 
things. My district is very large and rural, with 33 counties in 
southern Illinois. This bill will help.
  We need to do what we can now, and hopefully this success, as my 
colleague Mr. Tonko has said, will help us build on future areas where 
we can work together. Mr. Tonko will continue to be a rabid dog on this 
issue, and I appreciate his commitment for further discussions.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, S. 611.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________