Sponsors
The bill speeds and reduces the cost of many public water and wastewater projects by allowing exclusions from historic-preservation review and clarifying terms, but it does so at the expense of historic-preservation protections, tribal and public input, and potentially increased environmental harm and litigation risk.
Owners/operators of public water systems and local governments can complete structural rehabilitation and upgrades faster because the bill allows eligible projects to be excluded from Section 106 historic-preservation review, reducing scheduling delays.
Communities and taxpayers may pay less for publicly funded water and wastewater projects because reduced review requirements can lower project costs and reduce financing/holding costs from delays.
Project sponsors and state/federal agencies gain clearer regulatory guidance because the bill clarifies key definitions (e.g., public water system, treatment works, responsible agency), reducing regulatory uncertainty for planning and compliance.
Tribal nations, local communities, and the public will have fewer opportunities to identify and protect historic properties affected by water infrastructure projects because projects can be excluded from Section 106 review.
Archaeological and historic sites, including sites on tribal lands, face increased risk of irreversible damage because infrastructure work may proceed without historic-preservation review.
The bill could reduce transparency and public input by concentrating decision authority with federal agencies and project sponsors when exclusions are used, limiting community oversight of permitting decisions.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows federal agencies to exclude qualifying water system and treatment‑works rehabilitation projects from Section 106 historic‑preservation review when the project owner requests exclusion.
Introduced December 2, 2025 by Stephanie I. Bice · Last progress December 2, 2025
Removes the federal Section 106 historic‑preservation review for federally covered projects when the project's main purpose is the structural rehabilitation or upgrading of a public water system or treatment works and the project owner asks the federal agency to exclude the project. The law defines key terms (public water system, treatment works, responsible agency, undertaking) and directs agencies to treat such requests as excluded from Section 106 review. The change speeds repair and upgrade work on water infrastructure by letting agencies skip the Section 106 review process when the project owner requests exclusion, but it also reduces or eliminates the usual consultation and review steps that protect historic properties and tribal cultural resources.