[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 873 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 873
To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
to award grants and contracts for projects that use emerging
technologies to address threats to water quality, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 8, 2023
Mr. Donalds (for himself and Mr. Gottheimer) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and
Commerce, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
to award grants and contracts for projects that use emerging
technologies to address threats to water quality, and for other
purposes.
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 Quality and Environmental
Innovation Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Science, technology, and innovation are major
cornerstones of the economy of the United States.
(2) Throughout the United States, there is a growing
momentum to address traditional and emerging threats to the
Nation's water resources through innovative technological
approaches.
(3) Water quality continues to negatively impact
communities in the United States in a variety of ways.
(4) Water quality improvement and protection efforts pose a
unique opportunity for private and public innovators to develop
lasting market-based solutions.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the Federal Government should support innovative
solutions to address water quality in the United States;
(2) forward-thinking applications of new and existing
technologies will be vital for the ability of communities in
the United States to treat and monitor vital aquatic and
environmental resources;
(3) supporting an innovative approach to addressing or
avoiding water quality degradation will ultimately result in
positive changes pertaining to water quality and environmental
well-being;
(4) utilizing emerging technologies will spur market-based
innovation and will further amplify the ongoing efforts to
resolve water quality degradation; and
(5) the Environmental Protection Agency and State
environmental agencies should prioritize the use of emerging
technologies, including artificial intelligence, quantum
information science, distributed ledger technology, mechanical
harvesting, aquatic muck dredging, living shorelines, living
seawalls, robotics, nanotechnology, environmental DNA (eDNA),
and cultivation of aquatic species, such as seaweed, seagrass,
kelp, clams, oysters, and mussels, when creating programs and
solutions to address water quality.
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WATER QUALITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION
FUND.
(a) In General.--There is established a fund, to be known as the
Water Quality and Environmental Innovation Fund.
(b) Transfers to the Fund.--On October 1 of each of fiscal years
2024 through 2028, there shall be transferred from the special account
described in section 6501(e) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 4370c(e)) to the Water Quality and Environmental
Innovation Fund, an amount that is equal to the amount that the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency determines will be
collected in such fiscal year from fees and charges under the Motor
Vehicle and Engine Compliance Program of the Environmental Protection
Agency.
(c) Expenditures.--Amounts in the Water Quality and Environmental
Innovation Fund--
(1) shall be available, as provided in appropriations Acts,
for awarding grants and contracts, and for other expenses
associated with administering such awards, under section 5; and
(2) shall remain available until September 30, 2028.
SEC. 5. AWARDS FOR PROJECTS THAT USE EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES TO ADDRESS
THREATS TO WATER QUALITY.
(a) In General.--The Administrator may award grants and contracts
to eligible entities in accordance with this section.
(b) Use of Funds.--
(1) In general.--An eligible entity may use a grant or
contract awarded under this section to carry out a project--
(A) that uses an emerging technology, including
artificial intelligence, quantum information science,
distributed ledger technology, mechanical harvesting,
aquatic muck dredging, living shorelines, living
seawalls, robotics, nanotechnology, environmental DNA
(eDNA), and cultivation of aquatic species, such as
seaweed, seagrass, kelp, clams, oysters, and mussels,
to address threats to water quality; or
(B) for the research, development, or design of
such an emerging technology to be used to address
threats to water quality.
(2) Water quality threats.--Threats to water quality that
may be addressed under a project carried out using a grant or
contract awarded under this section include--
(A) acidification;
(B) the accumulation of plastics, trash, and
microplastics;
(C) hydrologic alterations, such as restricting
tidal flow;
(D) nutrient release and eutrophication, including
harmful algal blooms;
(E) sea-level rise;
(F) waste carbon dioxide accumulations;
(G) adverse soil health conditions;
(H) erosion and sedimentation; and
(I) karst, sinkholes, and land subsidence.
(c) Eligible Entities.--The Administrator may--
(1) award grants under this section to any institution of
higher education, nonprofit organization, or any other entity
located or headquartered in the United States that the
Administrator determines appropriate; and
(2) award contracts under this section to individuals or
private for-profit companies that the Administrator determines
appropriate.
(d) Requirement.--Any results, including data and statistics, from
a project carried out using a grant or contract awarded under this
section shall be freely accessible and useable by the public, including
local, State, and Federal government entities.
SEC. 6. REPORT.
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this
Act, and annually thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to the
Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate, the Committee
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee
on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, the Committee
on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives,
and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of
Representatives a report describing--
(1) additional benefits that may result from the use of
emerging technologies, including emerging technologies
described in section 5(b)(1)(A), to address threats to water
quality, compared to use of existing technologies to address
threats to water quality;
(2) the recipients of the grants and contracts awarded
under this Act;
(3) the types and goals of projects carried out using the
grants and contracts awarded under this Act;
(4) the effectiveness of such projects in achieving such
goals; and
(5) any other information that the Administrator determines
necessary.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) Artificial intelligence.--The term ``artificial
intelligence'' has the meaning given such term in section 5002
of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020
(15 U.S.C. 9401).
(3) Distributed ledger technology.--The term ``distributed
ledger technology'' means technology that enables the operation
and use of distributed ledgers that--
(A) are shared across a set of distributed nodes,
including devices or processes, that participate in a
network and store a complete or partial replica of the
ledger;
(B) are synchronized between the nodes;
(C) have data appended to it by following the
ledger's specified consensus mechanism;
(D) may be accessible to anyone (public) or
restricted to a subset of participants (private); and
(E) may require participants to have authorization
to perform certain actions (permissioned) or require no
authorization (permissionless).
(4) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means an
entity described in section 5(c).
(5) Quantum information science.--The term ``quantum
information science'' has the meaning given such term in
section 2 of the National Quantum Initiative Act (15 U.S.C.
8801).
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