H.R. 4879 — Emergency Rural Water Response Act of 2025

This section amends the Emergency and Imminent Community Water Assistance Grant Program (7 U.S.C. 1926a)—which provides grants to public and private nonprofits in rural areas and small communities to address declines or imminent declines in water quantity or quality—by (1) expanding permitted grant uses to include associated water resources infrastructure such as facilities for potable water, wastewater, storm drainage, or solid waste; and (2) increasing the population threshold for communities eligible for grants to construct, improve, or extend water systems to 35,000 inhabitants (from 10,000).

This section establishes an exemption from National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits—required under the Clean Water Act for point source discharges of pollutants into navigable waters—for discharges from portable water treatment and filtration facilities. The exemption applies during the six-month period immediately following a state declaration of disaster or emergency, for facilities installed in the affected area to provide clean water in response to the event.