To require the Comptroller General of the United States to review all clean water-related technical assistance authorities of the Environmental Protection Agency, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed HouseReceived; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment …
Passed House (inferred from eh version)
Additional sponsors: Mr. Figures and Ms. Gillen
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the …
Mr. Taylor introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill requires the Government Accountability Office to conduct a comprehensive review of EPA's clean water technical assistance programs, particularly the WaterTA initiative. The review examines how EPA selects assistance providers, matches them to communities, and coordinates with other federal agencies. It aims to identify program duplication and gaps in serving economically distressed communities.
Who Benefits and How
Economically distressed communities benefit from potential program improvements identified through the GAO review. States, tribes, and local governments gain transparency about EPA technical assistance selection processes. Communities needing water infrastructure help may see better-coordinated federal assistance as a result of recommendations to reduce duplication.
Who Bears the Burden and How
GAO must initiate a comprehensive review within one year and report findings to Congress. EPA faces new reporting requirements—the Administrator must submit a compliance plan within 90 days of the GAO report, then annual updates for 5 years detailing actions taken on recommendations. Both agencies bear administrative costs of documentation and coordination.
Key Provisions
- GAO must review all EPA clean water technical assistance programs within 1 year
- Review covers WaterTA initiative provider selection, community matching, and outreach
- Must analyze duplication across EPA programs
- Must assess unmet needs of economically distressed communities
- EPA must report annually for 5 years on compliance with GAO recommendations
- Report goes to House Transportation and Senate Environment committees
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Requires GAO to conduct a comprehensive review of EPA's clean water technical assistance programs and the WaterTA initiative, examining duplication, community support, and coordination with other federal agencies.
Policy Domains
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_administrator"
- → Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
- "the_comptroller_general"
- → Comptroller General of the United States (GAO)
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A technical assistance authority, initiative, or program of the EPA that is related to clean water infrastructure
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology