[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 864 Reported in Senate (RS)]
Calendar No. 340
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 864
[Report No. 113-142]
To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize technical
assistance to small public water systems, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 6, 2013
Mr. Wicker (for himself, Ms. Heitkamp, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Udall of New
Mexico, Mr. Crapo, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Risch, Mr. Johnson of South
Dakota, Mr. Moran, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Tester, Mr. Inhofe,
Ms. Hirono, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Levin, and Mr. Schatz)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Environment and Public Works
April 1, 2014
Reported by Mrs. Boxer, with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize technical
assistance to small public water systems, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>
<DELETED> This Act may be cited as the ``Grassroots Rural and Small
Community Water Systems Assistance Act''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 2. FINDINGS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> Congress finds that--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (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.);</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) technical assistance and compliance training--
</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) ensures that Federal regulations do
not overwhelm the resources of small and rural
communities; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) provides small and rural communities
lacking technical resources with the necessary skills
to improve and protect water resources;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) across the United States, more than 90 percent
of the community water systems serve a population of less than
10,000 individuals;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (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</DELETED>
<DELETED> (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.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> It is the sense of Congress that--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) to most effectively assist small and rural
communities, 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</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) local support is the key to making Federal
assistance initiatives work in small and rural communities to
the maximum benefit.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 4. FUNDING PRIORITIES.</DELETED>
<DELETED> Section 1442(e) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C.
300j-1(e)) is amended--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) by designating the first through seventh
sentences as paragraphs (1) through (7),
respectively;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) in paragraph (5) (as so designated), by
striking ``1997 through 2003'' and inserting ``2014 through
2019''; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) by adding at the end the following:</DELETED>
<DELETED> ``(8) Nonprofit organizations.--</DELETED>
<DELETED> ``(A) In general.--The Administrator may
use amounts made available to carry out this section to
provide technical assistance to nonprofit organizations
that provide to small public water systems onsite
technical assistance, circuit-rider technical
assistance programs, onsite and regional training,
assistance with implementing source water protection
plans, and assistance with implementation monitoring
plans, rules, regulations, and water security
enhancements.</DELETED>
<DELETED> ``(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 and that the small community
water systems in that State find to be the most
beneficial and effective.''.</DELETED>
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 most effectively assist small and rural communities,
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 ``2014 through 2019''; 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.''.
Calendar No. 340
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 864
[Report No. 113-142]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize technical
assistance to small public water systems, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
April 1, 2014
Reported with an amendment