H.R. 6464: Affordable Clean Water Infrastructure Act

This bill, titled the Affordable Clean Water Infrastructure Act, seeks to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act with the primary aim of providing more financial assistance to certain types of publicly owned treatment works. Here are the key provisions of the bill:

Changes to Loan Funding

The bill proposes modifications to the existing water pollution control revolving loan funds. These are funds that states use to provide low-interest loans for water pollution control projects.

Increased Subsidization

The amendments specifically focus on allowing states to provide additional financial assistance, known as subsidization, to:

• Rural publicly owned treatment works
• Small publicly owned treatment works
• Tribal publicly owned treatment works

This increased subsidization aims to help these entities with their financial challenges in managing wastewater services, including stormwater management.

Eligibility for Funds

States can offer this additional subsidization based on the following criteria:

• Up to 50% of the total amount the state receives in capitalization grants for a fiscal year, or
• The average annual amount the state has invested in its water pollution control revolving fund over the previous ten fiscal years.

Additionally, the bill allows states to provide an extra 10% of the capitalization grant to support rural, small, and tribal treatment works specifically.

Minimum Funding Requirements

To address the needs of these smaller entities appropriately, the bill establishes a minimum funding requirement. States are expected to provide at least 20% of their capitalization grants in additional subsidization, provided that there are sufficient applications that meet the established criteria.

Exclusions for Loan Definition

Furthermore, the bill clarifies that loans from the state water pollution control revolving fund with an interest rate of 0% or higher will not count as additional subsidization. This ensures that only truly subsidized assistance is counted towards the criteria established by the bill.

Overall Goals

In summary, the Affordable Clean Water Infrastructure Act emphasizes enhancing financial support for smaller, rural, and tribal publicly owned treatment works, aiming to improve their capacity to provide necessary wastewater services at an affordable cost for their ratepayers.

Relevant Companies

None found