Sec. 7205. Financial capability guidance
390 words·~2 min read·
/bill/114/s/2848/is/section-7205A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
In this section: The term affordability means, with respect to payment of a utility bill, a measure of whether an individual customer or household can pay the bill without undue hardship or unreasonable sacrifice in the essential lifestyle or spending patterns of the individual or household, as determined by the Administrator. The term financial capability means the financial capability of a community to make investments necessary to make water quality or drinking water improvements.
The term guidance means the guidance published by the Administrator entitled Combined Sewer Overflows—Guidance for Financial Capability Assessment and Schedule Development and dated February 1997, as applicable to the combined sewer overflows and sanitary sewer overflows guidance published by the Administrator entitled Financial Capability Assessment Framework and dated November 24, 2014. The Administrator shall not use median household income as the sole indicator of affordability for a residential household.
Not later than 1 year after the date of completion of the National Academy of Public Administration study to establish a definition and framework for community affordability required by Senate Report 114–70, accompanying S. 1645 (114th Congress), the Administrator shall revise the guidance. In revising the guidance, the Administrator shall consider— the recommendations of the study referred to in subsection
(c)and any other relevant study, as determined by the Administrator; local economic conditions, including site-specific local conditions that should be taken into consideration in analyzing financial capability; other essential community investments; potential adverse impacts on distressed populations, including the percentage of low-income ratepayers within the service area of a utility and impacts in communities with disparate economic conditions throughout the entire service area of a utility; the degree to which rates of low-income consumers would be affected by water infrastructure investments and the use of rate structures to address the rates of low-income consumers; an evaluation of an array of factors, the relative importance of which may vary across regions and localities; and the appropriate weight for economic, public health, and environmental benefits associated with improved water quality. Any guidance issued to replace the guidance shall be developed in consultation with interested parties. On completion of the updating of guidance, the Administrator shall publish in the Federal Register and submit to the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives the updated guidance.