Sponsors (2)
The bill expands and targets financial help (grants, loans, warranties) to improve water and wastewater access for rural households but introduces funding uncertainties and design choices (caps, grant/loan cutoffs, admin use) that could reduce per-household aid or impose repayment burdens on some families.
Low-income rural households (under 60% of area median) would receive subgrants to build or repair household water and wastewater systems, lowering out-of-pocket costs and enabling needed repairs.
Moderate-income rural households (60–100% of area median) would have access to loans to install or rehabilitate private water/wastewater systems, improving access to safe water and sanitation.
Households receiving decentralized wastewater system subgrants would receive a funded performance warranty of at least five years, reducing repair/recall costs and financial risk after installation.
A garbled replacement of the $15,000 per-system cap creates uncertainty and could lower per-system funding, leaving some households unable to afford complete repairs or installations.
Splitting assistance into grants for <60% AMI and loans for 60–100% AMI may saddle households just above the cutoff with repayment burdens they cannot manage.
An unspecified change to the authorization of appropriations makes funding levels and future availability unclear, risking program gaps or unexpected costs to taxpayers and USDA.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Restructures a rural wastewater/water grant program to give nonprofits authority to make subgrants to households under 60% of area median and loans to households at 60–100%, and allows warranty funding for decentralized systems.
Official title: Amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to modify provisions relating to rural decentralized water systems grants.
Introduced March 12, 2026 by Cory Anthony Booker · Last progress March 12, 2026
Authorizes and revises a USDA rural water grant program by restructuring who can receive loans versus subgrants and by clarifying program rules. The bill directs private nonprofit organizations to make subgrants to very-low-income households (under 60% of the nonmetropolitan median income) and loans to moderate-income households (60–100% of that median), adds authority to fund a five-year performance warranty for decentralized wastewater systems, and includes a corrupted edit to a dollar cap that needs technical correction to determine the fiscal effect.