Water Emergency and Technical Assistance

Summary#

This bill increases and extends federal help for water system emergencies. It amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to change a rule about when emergency actions must "be taken or be economically feasible for ratepayers" and raises the yearly authorized amount for emergency technical assistance from $35,000,000 (previously for 2022–2026) to $50,000,000 for each fiscal year 2027–2031. It also adds a new section to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act that lets the Environmental Protection Agency (the Administrator) give technical assistance and grants to States or publicly owned treatment works for emergencies that threaten public health. The new authority covers emergencies from events such as sewer overflows and cybersecurity incidents. Grants must be used only to prevent, limit, or reduce public-health danger and only for actions that the Administrator finds would not be taken or be economically feasible for ratepayers without the grant. The bill allows these grants to be carried out along with other emergency programs, and it says that limits on appropriations for other programs do not apply to amounts made available under this new section.

What it means for you#

• The EPA could provide technical help and money to state agencies and public wastewater treatment systems when those systems face emergencies that threaten health.
• The grants are focused on actions needed to protect public health and on costs that local ratepayers could not reasonably cover.
• The law specifically allows help for emergencies caused by cybersecurity events as well as physical problems like sewer overflows.
• No publicly available information about how this bill would affect any specific community or utility.

Expenses#

• The bill authorizes $50,000,000 per fiscal year for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to carry out the new clean water emergency assistance section.
• It changes the Safe Drinking Water Act emergency technical assistance authorization to $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031 (up from $35,000,000 for fiscal years 2022–2026).
• No publicly available information on overall budgetary offsets, projected federal outlays, or net fiscal impact beyond these authorized amounts.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.