HR3427-119

What This Bill Does

The Water Resources Technical Assistance Review Act directs the Comptroller General to initiate, within one year, a comprehensive review of EPA clean-water technical assistance. GAO must describe all covered technical assistance available to states, tribes, local governments, and nongovernmental organizations, including the regions and populations served and five years of activities. It must review how EPA's Water Technical Assistance initiative identifies, selects, contracts with, and partners with technical-assistance providers; how providers are matched to local communities; how outreach reaches economically distressed communities; what assistance, costs, and outcomes communities receive; whether EPA programs duplicate one another; how assistance builds capacity to access other water infrastructure programs; which distressed-community needs remain unmet; how EPA coordinates with other federal agencies; and how technical assistance helps communities identify alternative and cost-effective treatment works. GAO must report findings and recommendations to House Transportation and Senate Environment committees. EPA then must submit a plan within 90 days and annually for five years detailing actions taken to comply with GAO recommendations.

Who Benefits and How

Economically distressed communities, state water agencies, tribal water programs, local governments, nonprofit water-assistance providers, rural wastewater systems, communities seeking clean-water infrastructure funding, alternative water-treatment technology providers, House Transportation Committee staff, and Senate Environment Committee staff benefit because the bill creates a detailed audit of whether EPA assistance reaches communities with the greatest needs, avoids duplication, and helps them access funding and lower-cost treatment options.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Government Accountability Office, GAO water-infrastructure analysts, Environmental Protection Agency WaterTA staff, the EPA Administrator, EPA contracting officers, EPA regional offices, technical-assistance providers, state partners, tribal partners, and local partners bear burdens because they must provide data, document provider-selection criteria, track costs and outcomes, support GAO review, answer duplication and coordination questions, and prepare annual response plans for five years.

Key Provisions

• Requires GAO to initiate a comprehensive review of covered EPA clean-water technical assistance within one year.
• Requires review of WaterTA provider selection, contracting, coordination, community matching, outreach, costs, activities, and outcomes.
• Requires GAO to evaluate duplication, distressed-community needs, interagency coordination, and cost-effective treatment technologies.
• Requires GAO to report findings and recommendations to House and Senate committees.
• Requires EPA to submit a response plan within 90 days and annually for five years after the GAO report.