S. 1730 — Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Act of 2025

This section designates the Act as the “Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Act of 2025” and sets forth the table of contents.

This section establishes mandatory annual funding transfers from the Treasury, to remain available until expended, for EPA clean water and drinking water programs, USDA rural water grants, and Indian Health Service (IHS) sanitation facilities, with specified obligation caps as follows: (1) $17,237,000,000 to EPA, including not more than $14,787,000,000 for Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) capitalization grants (33 U.S.C. 1381), $875,000,000 for emerging contaminants grants (33 U.S.C. 1302d), $875,000,000 for nonpoint source management (33 U.S.C. 1329), $525,000,000 for state water pollution control (33 U.S.C. 1256), and $175,000,000 for state administration (33 U.S.C. 1254(b)(8)); (2) $16,187,000,000 to EPA, including not more than $14,787,000,000 for Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) capitalization grants (42 U.S.C. 300j-12), $1,050,000,000 for emerging contaminants grants (42 U.S.C. 300j-25), $175,000,000 for small or disadvantaged systems and lead reduction grants (42 U.S.C. 300j-16 and 33 U.S.C. 1281 note), and $175,000,000 for technical assistance (42 U.S.C. 300j-1(e)); (3) $525,000,000 to USDA, including not more than $350,000,000 for solid waste management grants (7 U.S.C. 1926e) and $175,000,000 for household water well system grants to disadvantaged communities such as colonias (7 U.S.C. 1926c); and (4) $1,050,000,000 to IHS for grants to plan, design, construct, modernize, improve, or renovate water supply, sanitary sewage, and solid waste disposal facilities funded in whole or part by IHS under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.), section 7 of the Act of August 5, 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2004a), or the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1632). (As background, 25 U.S.C. 1632 declares a federal policy to provide such sanitation facilities to all Indian homes and communities to address high disease rates from inadequate systems.) This section also limits USDA household water well grants under 7 U.S.C. 1926c(e)(1) to each fiscal year through FY2025 (from previously ongoing).

This section directs the EPA Administrator to conduct a study on water and sewer services, including (1) water affordability nationwide—such as rates, 10-year rate increases, disconnections due to unpaid charges, and the effectiveness of funding under SDWA §1452 (i.e., Drinking Water State Revolving Fund) and CWA title VI (i.e., Clean Water State Revolving Fund) in promoting affordable, equitable, transparent, and reliable service; (2) discriminatory practices and civil rights violations under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by federally assisted water/sewer providers and state program administrators with respect to equal access; (3) public participation in decisions to regionalize public water systems and sewer services, including governance by the resulting entities; and (4) data collection and methodologies on households without service, disconnections (especially for vulnerable populations), tax liens/foreclosures due to unpaid charges, and disparate impacts by race, gender, or socioeconomic status. Not later than one year after enactment, the Administrator must submit to Congress a report on the study results and recommendations for utilities, federal agencies, and states.

This section amends requirements for states to receive capitalization grants for Clean Water State Revolving Funds (CWSRFs) under the Clean Water Act. Specifically, it (1) revises the required state match to at least 20% of the total amount of FY2021 capitalization grants made to the state (from 20% of all projected future grants); (2) prohibits financial assistance from CWSRFs for projects providing substantial direct benefits to new communities, lots, or subdivisions, except for advanced decentralized wastewater systems; (3) adds as eligible CWSRF activities the purchase of privately owned treatment works from willing or unwilling sellers and expenses to cancel contracts for operation or management of publicly owned treatment works; and (4) requires states to use at least 50% of annual capitalization grants for additional subsidization, such as principal forgiveness or grants (to the extent sufficient applications exist). (CWSRFs provide low-interest loans and other assistance for wastewater infrastructure to meet Clean Water Act requirements.)

This section revises eligibility and requirements for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program (DWSRF), which provides low-interest loans and other assistance to states for public water system infrastructure improvements. Specifically, it (1) limits assistance under subsection (a)(2)(A) to publicly owned, operated, and managed community water systems and authorizes funds under new subsection (a)(2)(E) to acquire privately owned community water systems from willing or unwilling sellers or to cancel related operating contracts, while adding subsection (a)(6) to except systems serving fewer than 10,000 persons not owned, operated, or managed by broader entities; (2) requires under revised subsection (d)(2) that states provide loan subsidies of at least 50% of capitalization grants to disadvantaged communities when applications are sufficient; (3) bases additional capitalization grants for subsidization under subsection (e) on states' fiscal year 2021 awards; (4) expands Administrator guidance under subsection (g)(3) to include affordable, equitable water service, protections against disconnection for unpaid charges, and universal access; and (5) adds permissible uses under subsection (k)(1), including grants for publicly owned community water systems to replace lead service lines with lead-free copper lines at no cost to property owners, to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) contamination via treatment upgrades or source switches, and for households with PFAS-contaminated wells to install filtration systems.

This section revises the school drinking water infrastructure grant program (previously focused on pre-1988 fountains) under Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) §1465 by (1) updating the section heading to replace "fountain" with "infrastructure"; (2) broadening subsection (a) to cover school "infrastructure" generally; and (3) replacing subsection (b) to authorize funds for installing, repairing, or replacing lead-free drinking water fountains, coolers, and bottle filling stations (as defined in SDWA §1417(d)(1)) and for monitoring and reporting lead levels in school drinking water. This section also increases the required set-aside of Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) appropriations for grants to Indian tribes and Alaskan Native Villages from 1.5% to 3% and changes the requirement from permissive ("may") to mandatory ("shall") under SDWA §1452(i)(1). (The DWSRF provides loans and grants to states for drinking water system improvements.)

This section preserves the applicability of existing prevailing wage requirements under the Clean Water Act (sections 513 and 602(b)(6)) and Safe Drinking Water Act (section 1450(e)) to projects funded by their state revolving loan funds. It further amends the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) program—under which states receive capitalization grants to provide loans and grants for municipal wastewater infrastructure—to require states to (1) permit assistance recipients to enter project labor agreements (PLAs) authorized under section 8(f) of the National Labor Relations Act (commonly known as pre-hire collective bargaining agreements between owners, contractors, and labor organizations for construction projects) and (2) ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that recipients use PLAs for such projects. It makes parallel amendments to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program—under which states receive capitalization grants for loans and grants to public water systems—requiring states to permit PLAs in intended use plans and certify their use for building and construction projects.

This section revises the drinking water grant program for colonias (i.e., underserved communities lacking basic infrastructure, primarily along the U.S.-Mexico border) by (1) defining "covered entity" in subsection (a) to include border states and local governments with jurisdiction over eligible communities; (2) in subsection (b), striking redundant language referencing the Environmental Protection Agency and replacing "border state" with "covered entity" (thus expanding grant eligibility beyond states to qualifying local governments); (3) striking subsection (d); and (4) redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (d).