Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act, P.L. 114-322: Drinking Water Provisions

Updated January 5, 2017

Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act,

P.L. 114-322: Drinking Water Provisions

The Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act

(WIIN Act; P.L. 114-322) was enacted on December 16,

2016. Title II of this wide-ranging water resources law is

the Water and Waste Act of 2016. Title II, Subtitle A,

makes numerous revisions to the Safe Drinking Water Act

(SDWA; 42 U.S.C. §§300f-300j-26), administered by the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Subtitle B

authorizes infrastructure and other emergency assistance to

help an eligible water system address lead in the system.

P.L. 114-322, Title II, broadly parallels many SDWA and

emergency assistance provisions in S. 2848, the Senate

2016 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) bill. The

House WRDA bill, H.R. 5303, did not include similar

provisions. It would have authorized appropriations for the

Army Corps of Engineers to provide assistance for water

infrastructure repair and replacement to any identified

community in a state subject to a presidential emergency

declaration concerning lead or other contaminants in the

water system. (See CRS In Focus IF10474, WRDA 2016:

Infrastructure, Lead, and Other Safe Drinking Water Act

Provisions in H.R. 5303 and S. 2848, by Mary Tiemann.)

The WIIN Act also authorizes Corps water resource

activities, as is traditional for WRDA legislation, and

addresses Indian water rights and the California drought.

(For an overview of the WIIN Act, see CRS In Focus

IF10536, Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation

Act (WIIN), by Nicole T. Carter et al.) The following

discussion addresses SDWA amendments and other

drinking water provisions in P.L. 114-322.

WIIN Amendments to SDWA

DWSRF Program

P.L. 114-322, Title II, Subtitle A, revises the Drinking

Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program—the key

federal drinking water infrastructure assistance program.

(For an overview of this program, see CRS Report R45304,

Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF): Overview,

Issues, and Legislation, by Mary Tiemann.) WIIN Section

2102 expressly states that DWSRF funds may be used for

planning, design, and related preconstruction work. States

may also use funds as security on state bonds issued to

provide the required 20% match to the federal capitalization

grant. Section 2103 generally increases the amount of

DWSRF funds states may use to administer their funds.

Further, Section 2101 expresses the “sense of Congress”

that robust funding should be provided for state DWSRF

grants.

Under Section 2113, funds made available from a state

DWSRF during FY2017 may not be used for water system

projects unless all iron and steel products to be used in the

project are produced in the United States. Certain waivers

of the requirement are specified.

New SDWA Grant Programs

WIIN authorizes grant programs for (1) SDWA compliance

assistance to small or disadvantaged public water systems;

(2) lead reduction projects, including lead service line

replacement; and (3) a voluntary program for testing for

lead in drinking water at schools and child care programs.

First, Section 2104 directs EPA to establish a grant program

to assist disadvantaged communities and small communities

that are unable to finance projects needed to comply with

SDWA. Eligible projects include investments needed for

SDWA compliance, household water quality testing, and

assistance that primarily benefits a community on a perhousehold basis. EPA must give funding priority to projects

and activities that benefit underserved communities (i.e.,

communities that lack household water or wastewater

services or that violate or exceed a SDWA requirement).

EPA may make grants to public water systems, tribal water

systems, and states on behalf of an underserved community.

EPA may waive all or some of the 45% non-federal share

of project costs. Section 2104 authorizes to be appropriated

$60 million per year for FY2017-FY2021.

Second, Section 2105 directs EPA to establish a grant

program for projects and activities that reduce lead in

drinking water, including replacement of lead service lines

and corrosion control. Grants may be used to provide

assistance to low-income homeowners to replace their

portion of a lead service line. Eligible recipients include

community water systems, tribal systems, schools, states,

and municipalities. EPA must give funding priority to

disadvantaged communities for projects that address lead

action level exceedances, lead in water at schools and day

care facilities, or other EPA priorities. EPA may waive the

20% non-federal cost share requirement. Section 2105

authorizes to be appropriated $60 million per year for

FY2017-FY2021.

Section 2111 amends the SDWA definition of Indian Tribe

to specify that Alaska Native Villages are eligible to receive

grants under these two new grant programs.

Third, Section 2107 requires EPA to establish a voluntary

program for testing for lead in drinking water at schools and

child care programs under the jurisdiction of local

education agencies (LEAs). States or LEAs may apply to

EPA for grants. Appropriations for this grant program are

authorized at $20 million per year for FY2017-FY2021.

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Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act, P.L. 114-322: Drinking Water Provisions

Public Notification

Section 2106 adds public notification requirements to the

SDWA for water system exceedances of the lead action

level under EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule (or subsequent

promulgated lead level). Notification requirements had

previously applied to violations of standards and other

applicable requirements but not to exceedances. Water

systems must now notify the public, the state, and EPA of

system lead action level exceedances as prescribed by EPA.

Further, for an exceedance that has potential to cause

serious adverse health effects from short-term exposure, a

water system must notify the public, the state, and EPA

within 24 hours. If the state or system owner/operator does

not provide the required notice, EPA must now notify the

public within 24 hours after the Administrator is notified.

Section 2106 also addresses lead action level exceedances

at households. EPA is required to develop a strategic plan

for providing targeted outreach, education, and technical

assistance to populations affected by lead in the water

system. Also, if EPA develops or receives data indicating

that a household’s water exceeds the lead action level, EPA

is required to forward the data and testing information to

the water system and the state. The water system is required

to provide the data and other specified information to the

affected households. Within 24 hours of learning that a

water system has failed to do so, EPA is required to consult

with the governor and, using the strategic plan, provide the

information to the households no later than 24 hours after

the end of the consultation period. This section also directs

EPA to make information regarding lead in drinking water

broadly available to the public.

Water Supply Cost Savings

Section 2108 requires EPA, with U.S. Department of

Agriculture consultation, to establish a drinking water

technology clearinghouse for information on cost-effective,

alternative drinking water delivery systems. In loan or grant

applications, systems serving 500 or fewer persons must

self-certify that they have considered such alternatives.

Innovative Water Technology

WIIN Section 2109 authorizes EPA to conduct research on

innovative water technologies (including those that ensure

compliance and those that identify and mitigate sources of

lead and other drinking water contamination). Section 2109

also authorizes EPA to provide technical assistance to

public water systems to promote use of innovative water

technologies and authorizes the appropriation of $10

million annually for FY2017-FY2021 for this purpose.

Within one year of enactment, and then every five years,

EPA must report to Congress on the amount of funding

used for technical assistance to deploy innovative

technologies, barriers to greater use of such technologies,

and cost-saving potential to communities from use of

innovative technologies.

Technical Assistance

Section 2110 reauthorizes EPA’s authority to reserve up to

2% of the DWSRF appropriation to provide small system

technical assistance. This set-aside is reauthorized for

FY2016-FY2021.

Section 2112 further authorizes EPA to use DWSRF funds

allotted for tribes and Alaska Native Villages to make

grants to intertribal consortia and tribal organizations.

These entities may use grant funds to provide operator

certification and training services to Indian tribes to

promote public water system compliance with SDWA.

Lead and Drinking Water Emergencies

P.L. 114-322, Title II, Subtitle B, authorizes $150 million to

be appropriated for disaster relief and infrastructure

assistance in response to lead contamination in a public

water system. (These funds were provided in P.L. 114-254,

Continuing and Security Assistance Appropriations Act of

2017.)

Section 2201 authorizes to be appropriated $100 million for

DWSRF grants to states subject to a presidential emergency

declaration concerning lead in a public water system. An

eligible state may use funds to provide assistance to a water

system that is the subject of the declaration to address lead

or other drinking water contaminants—including repair and

replacement of lead service lines (up to a building inlet) and

public water system infrastructure. After a specified time,

unobligated funds shall be available to other states.

Under Section 2201(e), the Agency for Toxic Substances

and Disease Registry is authorized to conduct voluntary

surveillance activities to evaluate any health effects from

lead exposure in affected communities. Such consultations

are mandatory if requested by a health official in an eligible

state.

Section 2203 authorizes to be appropriated $20 million for

the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to

establish (1) a voluntary lead-exposure registry for a city

exposed to lead in the water system, and (2) an advisory

committee on lead programs and research. Another $30

million in funding is authorized to fund HHS childhood

lead poisoning prevention and childhood health programs.

Section 2202 includes a sense of Congress supporting an

initial appropriation of $20 million under the Water

Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 (WIFIA,

P.L. 113-121) to be used for eligible projects including

those that address lead in drinking water. (P.L. 114-254

provided $20 million but did not target lead projects.)

WIFIA Amendments

Section 5008 amends WIFIA to authorize EPA to provide

assistance for drought mitigation projects (including

projects that enhance the resiliency of drought stricken

watersheds) and alternative water supply projects that

reduce aquifer depletion. These amendments also allow

prior costs incurred and in-kind contributions to be credited

to non-federal costs and financing fees to be included in the

loan. Section 5008 includes a sense of Congress that WIFIA

appropriations should be in addition to robust funding for

the DWSRF and Clean Water State Revolving Fund

programs.

Mary Tiemann, Specialist in Environmental Policy

https://crsreports.congress.gov

IF10577

Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act, P.L. 114-322: Drinking Water Provisions

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