Sponsors (6)
Introduced May 13, 2025 by Bernard Sanders · Last progress May 13, 2025
This bill directs large, predictable federal investments and targeted grants to improve water infrastructure and public‑health protections—especially for tribes, disadvantaged communities, and schools—while increasing federal spending and mandated conditions that reduce Congressional annual control, create compliance burdens, may raise costs for some projects or ratepayers, and risk leaving low‑capacity communities behind.
State and local water systems, utilities, and households gain large, predictable annual federal funding (roughly $34B+ per year across EPA and SDWA transfers) that enables financing of many drinking water and wastewater projects without annual appropriation uncertainty.
Tribal, rural, and other disadvantaged communities receive substantially increased and targeted assistance (mandatory tribal allocations, dedicated rural grants, and required subsidization shares), improving equity and access to safe water and sanitation.
Direct public-health protections: grants and subsidized loans fund lead service line replacement (no cost to many property owners), PFAS treatment or household filtration, and school drinking-water testing/fixture upgrades, lowering contaminant exposure for students, homeowners, and vulnerable households.
Mandatory, multi‑billion-dollar annual Treasury transfers materially increase federal outlays and deficit pressure, likely requiring offsets, spending tradeoffs, or higher taxes in the future.
Providing funds without further annual appropriation reduces Congressional oversight and fiscal flexibility, limiting lawmakers' ability to set priorities or adjust funding year-to-year.
Communities and small systems with limited application or management capacity risk being left behind as larger, better‑resourced states, utilities, and districts capture most awards, concentrating benefits.
Based on analysis of 16 sections of legislative text.
Establishes automatic annual federal transfers (~$35B/year) to fund water infrastructure, expands SRF uses, funds lead/PFAS remediation, requires affordability/civil-rights study, and adds PLA and consumer-protection rules.
Creates permanent, mandatory annual federal funding streams (about $35 billion total per year) to support drinking water, wastewater, rural water, and tribal sanitation projects through EPA, USDA, and HHS/IHS. Expands how State Revolving Funds (SRFs) and other grant programs may be used, requires a nationwide study on water affordability and service disconnections, strengthens consumer protections (including guidance to prevent water shutoffs), funds lead and PFAS remediation, and adds prevailing-wage and project labor agreement requirements for funded construction. Directs automatic Treasury transfers each fiscal year to cover the new funding caps, makes transferred funds available until expended, and imposes new conditions on States that receive capitalization grants (including minimum subsidization to disadvantaged communities and restrictions on projects that mainly benefit newly developed subdivisions). Also updates school and tribal drinking water programs and authorizes grants for household well remediation.