Senate bill would expand access to safe drinking water in rural, disadvantaged areas

Seeking to expand access to safe drinking water and wastewater services in low-income areas throughout the United States, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) introduced legislation on March 22 that would result in a survey of such needs across the country and an estimate of the capital costs to address those needs. Titled the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Sector Development Act (S. 3893), the legislation also would create a $250-million pilot program to expand options for providing decentralized drinking water solutions to low-income individuals and communities.

“Between historic drought and increasingly outdated infrastructure, Western communities are in desperate need of federal help to shore up access to clean drinking water and safe sanitation,” Wyden said in a March 22 news release. “Access to clean drinking water is a human right, and this legislation is a key piece of the puzzle in helping identify just how far-reaching the water access gap is, and then responding with investments supporting those communities to close that gap across Oregon and nationwide.”

The WASH Sector Development Act would create a new entity responsible for conducting an accurate survey of households lacking adequate access to wastewater and drinking water services. 

“Federal data currently fails to accurately measure the water and sanitation access gap in America, resulting in a lack of adequate investment in critical infrastructure for rural, tribal, and underserved communities,” according to the news release.

To be led by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the entity—known as the Water and Sanitation Needs Working Group—would “carry out a survey that will measure, as accurately as possible, the number and approximate geographic distribution of households in the United States that do not have access to drinking water infrastructure or a means for the safe collection and disposal of wastewater,” according to the bill.

Based on the survey findings, the Water and Sanitation Needs Working Group would be required to “prepare a report for Congress that estimates the cost of capital improvements that would be needed to ensure that all households in the United States have access to reliable drinking water and adequate sanitation,” the bill states. Moreover, the working group would be required to submit such a report to Congress every two years at a minimum. S. 3893 would authorize $10 million annually for five years to cover the costs of conducting the surveys and reporting the findings.

In order to help fund projects to address some of the identified needs, the WASH Sector Development Act would create a pilot program at the EPA. Authorized to receive $50 million annually for five years, the program would provide grants to private nonprofit organizations that help disadvantaged individuals and communities develop decentralized drinking water solutions. At least five percent of the grant funding would be required to go to projects on tribal lands.

“This grant program is modeled after the grant program for decentralized wastewater systems authorized under section 50208 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” according to a summary of the bill provided by Wyden’s office. “Together, the two programs would enable deployment of decentralized mid-sized solutions for low-income individuals and communities to provide both drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.”

Cosponsored by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) and Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico), the legislation is supported by such organizations as DigDeep, the Rural Community Assistance Partnership, the U.S. Water Alliance, Water For People, and the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials.