HR 2206 IH
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2206
To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize the technical assistance to small public water systems, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 30, 2009
Mr. ETHERIDGE (for himself, Mr. DICKS, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. TEAGUE, Ms. MARKEY of Colorado, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. ROSS, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. JONES, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. HARE, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. PIERLUISI, Mr. PERRIELLO, Mr. FILNER, Mrs. HALVORSON, and Mr. TONKO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize the 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,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
(a) Findings- Congress finds the following:
(1) The 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act authorized technical assistance for small and rural communities to assist them with compliance with rules and regulations promulgated under the Act. Technical assistance and compliance training ensures that Federal regulations do not overwhelm small and rural communities’ resources. It also allows small communities lacking technical resources access to assistance necessary to improve and protect their water resources.
(2) Under this authorization, locally supported technical assistance initiatives have been operating nationwide for the past three decades and have been the main source of compliance and assistance for small and rural communities to meet federal standards. Without these initiatives, effective implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act in rural areas would be nearly impossible.
(3) Across the States, over 90 percent of the community water systems serve a population less than 10,000. Small communities have the greatest difficulty providing safe, affordable public drinking water and wastewater services due to limited economies of scale and less technical expertise.
(4) In addition to being the main source of compliance assistance, rural water technical assistance has been the main source of assistance in emergency response in small and rural communities. Rural water technicians were the lead assistance in Greensburg, Kansas, in restoring the drinking water and sanitary sewer service to that tornado-stricken small community (providing water to the temporary hospital, housing units, and to the community in time). This was also the case in the response to the hurricanes in the gulf coast where the hundreds of small and rural communities relied on assistance from the local and surrounding State rural water associations for immediate assistance in restoring drinking water and sanitation service.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of the Congress that--
(1) to most effectively assist small communities, the Environmental Protection Agency should prioritize the type of technical assistance that small communities find is the most beneficial;
(2) it is essential for the agency to consider and prioritize the type and manner of technical assistance that has the most support of each State’s local communities; and
(3) local support is the fundamental key to making the Federal funding (the 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 as follows:
(1) In the fifth sentence by striking ‘15,000,000’ and inserting ‘20,000,000’ and by striking ‘1997 through 2003’ and inserting ‘2010 through 2015’.
(2) By inserting ‘(1)’ immediately before the first sentence.
(3) By adding the following new paragraph at the end thereof:
‘(2) The Administrator may provide technical assistance, with funds under this subsection, to nonprofit organizations providing on-site technical assistance, circuit-rider technical assistance programs, on-site and regional training, assistance with implementing source water protection plans, and assistance with implementation monitoring plans, rules, regulations, and water security enhancements. To assure technical assistance funding under this subsection is used in a manner most beneficial to small communities in each State, the Administrator shall give preference to nonprofit organizations that, as determined by the Administrator, are most qualified and most effective, and have the majority of support from small community water systems in the States.’.
U.S. Congress - Text of H.R.2206 as Introduced in House Grassroots Rural Water Systems Act
