This bill directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to change specific drinking water State Revolving Fund (SRF) regulations. The changes must define "community at high risk from fire or wildfire," adopt a statutory definition of "rural" or "rural area," and define "water infrastructure for fire suppression." The bill updates SRF eligible project categories to allow transmission, distribution, storage, and consolidation improvements that enhance water system capacity to aid fire suppression in rural, high-risk communities. It also allows SRF priority systems to include projects that serve both drinking water and fire suppression purposes and directs priority for projects in communities with adopted community wildfire protection plans or proactive private-property fire-risk reduction measures. The Administrator must revise the listed regulations within two years, but must begin applying the revised rules immediately upon enactment. The bill also allows minor technical and conforming changes as needed.
No publicly available information on federal costs or specific funding amounts is included in the bill text. The bill directs regulatory revisions to EPA rules governing existing State Revolving Funds; it does not itself appropriate new funds.
The bill states these regulatory changes will allow SRF programs to support water system improvements that aid in fire suppression and thereby further the public health protection objectives of the Safe Drinking Water Act. It frames the changes as helping protect public health, safety, and property in rural, high-risk communities.
No publicly available information on opponents' views is included in the bill text or the provided metadata.