On Thursday, the President unveiled his new framework - a far more scaled-down version than the $3.5 trillion package that Congressional Democrats originally had outlined. The smaller package still needs to win the backing of House and Senate Democrats in Congress. The House Democratic leadership released a version of the bill (H.R. 5376) on Thursday which included the following EPA water provisions:
• Section 30301, “Lead Service Line Replacement” - $30,000,000,000 under the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund for full lead service line replacement projects, of which $20,000,000,000 is for disadvantaged communities.
• Section 30302, “Community Water System Risk and Resilience” - $500,000,000 for grants and technical assistance to community water systems and nonprofit organizations for increasing the resilience of community water systems.
• Section 30303, “Grants for State Programs” - $100,000,000 for state primacy agencies.
• Section 30304, “Assistance for Colonias” - $100,000,000 for EPA’s Colonias’ program.
• Section 30305, “Grants to Reduce Lead in School Drinking Water” - $700,000,000 for EPA’s Lead in Drinking Water programs at schools and child care facilities.
• Section 30306, “Grants for Indian Reservation Drinking Water Infrastructure” - $100,000,000 for EPA’s Indian Reservation Drinking Water program.
• Section 30307, “Assistance for Areas Affected by Natural Disasters” - $100,000,000 for certain community water systems in areas subject to disaster declarations.
• Section 30308, “Assistance for Disadvantaged Communities” - $200,000,000 in Assistance for EPA’s Small and Disadvantaged Communities Drinking Water Grant Program.
• Section 30309, “Grants for Contaminant Monitoring” - $100,000,000 for unregulated contaminant monitoring costs.
• Section 30310, “Technical Assistance to Small Public Water Systems” - $100,000,000 for grants to certain nonprofit organizations to provide technical assistance.
• Section 30311, “Fund for Water Assistance Program” - $500,000,000 for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to reduce water and wastewater bill arrearages and rates of low-income households.
• Section 110027, “Grants for Rural, Small, Tribal, and Economically Disadvantaged Municipality Technical Assistance and Circuit Program and Workforce Development” - $495,000,000 for EPA Clean Water Act technical assistance to rural, small, Tribal, and economically disadvantaged municipalities - and for manpower development/retraining of workforce in wastewater utilities.
• Section 110028, “Alternative Water Source Project Grants” - $125,000,000 for EPA’s Alternative Water Source Projects program to help promote groundwater recharge, stormwater capture and reuse, and water recycling projects.
• Section 110029, “Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants” - $1,000,000,000 for EPA’s Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant Program.
• Section 110030, “Individual Household Decentralized Wastewater Treatment System Grants” - $450,000,000 the construction, repair, or replacement of individual household decentralized wastewater treatment systems of certain individuals.
• Section 110031, “Tribal Clean Water Grants” - $500,000,000 for EPA’s Clean Water Act Indian Set-Aside Program is to provide funding for wastewater infrastructure to federally recognized tribal governments and Alaska Native Villages.
• Section 110032, “Wastewater Infrastructure Assistance to Colonias” - $125,000,000 for EPA’s Wastewater Assistance to Colonias program.