Affordable Clean Water Infrastructure Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act rules for Clean Water State Revolving Fund additional subsidization. It clarifies that affordability can be assessed either for the recipient as a whole or within the geographic area served by the project, and that the assistance is meant to help ratepayers afford wastewater, including stormwater, services. It allows a state to use up to the greater of 50 percent of its annual capitalization grant or the 10-year average of state deposits above required matching amounts for additional subsidization. It allows an extra 10 percent of the capitalization grant for rural, small, and Tribal publicly owned treatment works. If enough eligible applications exist, the state must use at least 20 percent of the capitalization grant for additional subsidization. A loan with an interest rate equal to or above zero does not count as additional subsidization.
Who Benefits and How
Rural, small, and Tribal publicly owned treatment works benefit from a dedicated extra 10 percent subsidization option. Wastewater and stormwater ratepayers benefit if states use grants, principal forgiveness, negative-interest loans, or other subsidy tools to reduce project costs in hard-pressed service areas. State revolving funds gain clearer authority to target affordability within the project service area.
Who Bears the Burden and How
State revolving-fund administrators must calculate new maximums, meet the 20 percent minimum when sufficient qualifying applications exist, track the extra rural, small, and Tribal treatment-works category, and ensure zero-or-positive-interest loans are not counted as additional subsidization. Federal capitalization grant resources may shift from ordinary loans to more subsidized assistance.
Key Provisions
- Amends Clean Water State Revolving Fund affordability criteria for recipient-wide or project-service-area need.
- Raises the additional subsidization ceiling to the greater of 50 percent of capitalization grants or a 10-year average of excess state deposits.
- Authorizes an extra 10 percent of capitalization grants for rural, small, and Tribal publicly owned treatment works.
- Requires at least 20 percent additional subsidization when enough qualifying applications exist.
- Excludes zero-or-positive-interest loans from counting as additional subsidization.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Expands Clean Water State Revolving Fund subsidization by raising the maximum and minimum additional-subsidy amounts, creating an extra 10 percent option for rural, small, and Tribal publicly owned treatment works, and clarifying affordability help for wastewater and stormwater ratepayers.
Key Policy Areas
Water Infrastructure, Environment, State & Local Government
Primary Purpose
Expands Clean Water State Revolving Fund subsidization by raising the maximum and minimum additional-subsidy amounts, creating an extra 10 percent option for rural, small, and Tribal publicly owned treatment works, and clarifying affordability help for wastewater and stormwater ratepayers.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Rural publicly owned treatment works
- Small publicly owned treatment works
- Tribal publicly owned treatment works
- Wastewater ratepayers
- Stormwater ratepayers
Identified Costs
- State revolving-fund administrators
- Federal capitalization grant accounts
- Clean Water State Revolving Fund borrowers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
Ms. McDonald Rivet (for herself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Bresnahan, Mr. …
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Rural publicly owned treatment works, Small publicly owned treatment works
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
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