HR6075-119

What This Bill Does

The Water Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2025 amends section 220 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. It defines intelligent water infrastructure technology broadly to include real-time monitoring, analytics, embedded intelligence, predictive maintenance, water-quality sensors, artificial intelligence optimization, combined sewer and stormwater controls, groundwater banking, digital design and construction tools, leak and water-loss detection, pipe-integrity diagnostics, pressure and flow sensors, advanced metering infrastructure, resilient water-supply projects, and intelligent optimization tools for wastewater and stormwater systems. It changes grant-use rules so alternative-water-source grants can fund engineering, design, construction, and final testing of critical water-supply projects, while still barring planning, feasibility studies, operation, and maintenance except that intelligent water infrastructure technology grants may fund engineering, design, construction, implementation, training, and operations, and those technology costs are not treated as prohibited operation or maintenance. EPA must report to Congress within 180 days and annually thereafter on projects awarded grants for intelligent water infrastructure technology, resulting resilience improvements, recommendations, denied initial projects, and denial reasons. The bill raises authorization from $25 million to $50 million and extends it from 2026 to 2028.

Who Benefits and How

Wastewater utilities benefit because grants can support real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, AI optimization, leak detection, and digital management technologies. Stormwater system operators benefit from eligibility for intelligent controls, groundwater banking, predictive aquifer recharge, and real-time data tools. Disadvantaged communities benefit from advanced metering and conservation technology expressly tied to support for those communities. Water technology vendors benefit from a larger grant-funded market for sensors, analytics, acoustic monitoring, pipe diagnostics, AI tools, and digital design platforms. Ratepayers benefit if funded technologies reduce energy, chemical, water-loss, and emergency-repair costs while improving reliability and resilience.

Who Bears the Burden and How

EPA grant administrators must evaluate intelligent water infrastructure applications, track denied projects, and submit annual resilience reports to Congress. Water utilities receiving grants must implement, train staff on, and operate technology systems rather than only build conventional infrastructure. Applicants still cannot use ordinary alternative-water-source grants for planning, feasibility studies, operation, or maintenance outside the intelligent-technology exception. Federal taxpayers bear the cost of doubling the authorization to $50 million and extending it through 2028. Cybersecurity and data-management staff may face additional work as water systems adopt real-time sensors, analytics, and connected infrastructure.

Key Provisions

• Defines intelligent water infrastructure technology for wastewater, stormwater, water-supply, metering, leak-detection, and digital-design systems.
• Allows grants to fund engineering, design, construction, implementation, training, and operations for intelligent water infrastructure technology.
• Maintains the general bar on planning, feasibility studies, operation, and maintenance for other alternative-water-source grant uses.
• Requires EPA reports within 180 days and annually thereafter on grants, resilience improvements, recommendations, denied projects, and denial reasons.
• Raises authorization from $25 million to $50 million and extends it through 2028.