Sec. 81216. Assistance for disadvantaged communities without adequate drinking water
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The Secretary shall provide grants within the Reclamation States to assist eligible applicants in planning, designing, or carrying out projects to help disadvantaged communities address a significant decline in the quantity or quality of drinking water. To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, an applicant shall submit an application to the Secretary that includes a proposal of the project or activity in subsection
(c)to be planned, designed, constructed, or implemented, the service area of which— shall not be located in any city or town with a population of more than 60,000 residents; and has a median household income of less than 100 percent of the nonmetropolitan median household income of the State. Projects eligible for grants under this program may be used for— emergency water supplies; distributed treatment facilities; construction of new wells and connections to existing water source systems; water distribution facilities; connection fees to existing systems; assistance to households to connect to water facilities; local resource sharing, including voluntary agreements between water systems to jointly contract for services or equipment, or to study or implement the physical consolidation of two or more water systems; technical assistance, planning, and design for any of the activities described in paragraphs
(1)through (7); or any combination of activities described in paragraphs
(1)through (8). In determining priorities for funding projects, the Secretary shall take into consideration— where the decline in the quantity or quality of water poses the greatest threat to public health and safety; the degree to which the project provides a long-term solution to the water needs of the community; and whether the applicant has the ability to qualify for alternative funding sources. The amount of a grant provided under this section may be up to 100 percent of costs, including— initial operation costs incurred for startup and testing of project facilities; costs of components to ensure such facilities and components are properly operational; and costs of operation or maintenance incurred subsequent to placing the facilities or components into service. There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $100,000,000, to remain available until expended. In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to identify opportunities to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and impact of activities carried out under this section to help disadvantaged communities address a significant decline in the quantity or quality of drinking water. The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study on water and sewer services, in accordance with this subsection. In conducting the study under paragraph (1), the Comptroller shall study water affordability nationwide, including— rates for water and sewer services, increases in such rates during the ten-year period preceding such study, and water service disconnections due to unpaid water service charges; and the effectiveness of funding under section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act and under section 601 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act for promoting affordable, equitable, transparent, and reliable water and sewer service. In conducting the study under paragraph (1), the Comptroller, in collaboration with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, shall study— discriminatory practices of water and sewer service providers; and violations by such service providers that receive Federal assistance of civil rights under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with regard to equal access to water and sewer services. In conducting the study under paragraph (1), the Comptroller shall collect information, assess the availability of information, and evaluate the methodologies used to collect information, related to— people living without water or sewer services; water service disconnections due to unpaid water service charges, including disconnections experienced by households containing children, elderly persons, disabled persons, chronically ill persons, or other vulnerable populations; and disparate effects, on the basis of race, gender, or socioeconomic status, of water service disconnections and the lack of public water service. Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller shall submit to Congress a report that contains— the results of the study conducted under subsection (a)(1); and recommendations for utility companies, Federal agencies, and States relating to such results.