Sponsors (21)
The bill greatly expands federal support to modernize and operationalize intelligent water infrastructure for local utilities, improving resilience and deployment capacity, but it shifts some early planning costs onto localities and may increase future operating costs and federal budget pressures.
Local water utilities and municipalities can receive much larger grants (up to $50 million) to build resilient alternative water supplies and modernize systems with sensors, AI, and leak-detection technology, enabling large-scale upgrades that many communities otherwise couldn't afford.
Utilities and local governments can use grant funds for implementation, training, and operations of intelligent water technologies, making it easier to deploy, staff, and maintain new systems rather than just buy equipment.
The EPA must report quickly (within 180 days) and annually on awarded intelligent-technology grants, resiliency improvements, and denied applications, increasing transparency and oversight of how funds are used.
Local governments and utilities are prohibited from using grant funds for planning and feasibility studies, which may force them to front early-stage costs or delay projects if they lack local resources.
Classifying intelligent-technology expenses as non‑operations-and-maintenance could shift lifecycle costs onto utilities later, increasing future operating budgets and potentially raising rates for customers or requiring new local spending once grants expire.
Raising the maximum authorized grant from $5 million to $50 million increases federal spending and could create budgetary tradeoffs or greater competition for appropriations.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expands a pilot grant program to fund and operate intelligent water infrastructure technologies, tightens allowable uses, requires EPA reporting, and raises the program cap to $50 million.
Introduced November 18, 2025 by Robert P. Bresnahan · Last progress November 18, 2025
Amends the existing pilot program for alternative water source projects to add a new definition for “intelligent water infrastructure technology,” explicitly allow grant funding to design, build, implement, train on, and operate those technologies, and clarify that such costs are not considered operation or maintenance. The bill prohibits using grant funds for planning, feasibility studies, or routine operation and maintenance (except for intelligent-technology-related operations), requires an initial EPA report within 180 days and annual reports thereafter on awarded projects and denials, and raises a monetary cap in the program from $5 million to $50 million.