Sponsors
The bill clarifies eligibility and accelerates full-scale deployment of alternative water-supply and drought-resilience projects—improving planning and access for many communities—while increasing reporting and administrative costs and risking reduced access for under-resourced jurisdictions that lack formal planning capacity.
Local and state governments: receive clearer, regular funding guidance and accountability through annual EPA reports timed to the President’s budget, helping them plan water-supply and drought-resilience projects.
Communities with publicly developed water or drought plans (including rural and urban communities): become explicitly eligible for projects because the bill’s definition covers needs identified in those plans, increasing access to federal support for planned water-supply and drought-resilience work.
Local governments and utilities: may deploy full-scale alternative water source projects more quickly because removing pilot-program language enables broader implementation during droughts.
Rural and low-income communities (and small local governments): may be disadvantaged because tying eligibility to publicly developed plans favors jurisdictions with resources to create formal plans, limiting access to funds for those without planning capacity.
Taxpayers and the federal budget: could face higher federal costs and expanded administrative burden as reporting requirements and program scope increase.
Federal employees and local governments: EPA’s required detailed annual reporting synchronized to the President’s budget increases EPA workload and could slow grant administration or project starts.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Changes the Clean Water Act provision on alternative water source projects by redefining what counts as “critical water supply needs,” removing language about a pilot program, and requiring the EPA Administrator to send an annual report—timed to the President’s budget submission—to two congressional committees describing projects funded under the authority and how they address those needs. The law also makes related edits to headings and cross-references.
Introduced October 24, 2025 by Frederica Wilson · Last progress October 24, 2025