Among the key provisions, the 1996 amendments authorized a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program to help public water systems finance improvements needed to comply with federal drinking water regulations and to address the most serious risks to human health. States are authorized to use DWSRF funds to provide financial assistance (primarily subsidized loans) to eligible public water systems for expenditures that EPA has determined, through guidance, will facilitate SDWA compliance or significantly further the act's health protection objectives. The DWSRF program is patterned after the Clean Water Act State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) program that Congress authorized in 1987 for financing municipal wastewater treatment projects. Congress increased the amount states may use for administration purposes in the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN Act; P.L. P.L. For FY2019, the Administration requested $863.23 million for the DWSRF program. This survey indicates that public water systems need to invest $472.6 billion on infrastructure improvements over 20 years ($19.2 billion annually) to achieve compliance with SDWA drinking water regulations and "to continue to provide safe drinking water to the public." Lead Service Lines

Among other assessments of drinking water infrastructure needs, a 2012 study prepared by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) projected that restoring and expanding water systems to keep up with population growth would require a nationwide investment of at least $1 trillion over the next 25 years. Other persistent water infrastructure issues include the gap between funding and estimated needs, the growing cost of complying with SDWA standards (particularly for small communities), the ability of small or disadvantaged communities to afford DWSRF financing, and the broader need for cities to maintain, upgrade, and expand infrastructure unrelated to SDWA compliance. 113-121 , H.R. 3080 ) included in Title V, Subtitle C, the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 (WIFIA). In WIFIA, Congress authorized a pilot loan guarantee program to test the ability of innovative financing tools to promote increased development of, and private investment in, water infrastructure projects—while reducing costs to the federal government. The five-year pilot program is intended to complement—not replace—the SRF programs. 114-254 ), Congress provided $20.0 million for EPA to begin providing loan guarantees for infrastructure projects under WIFIA. Also, Congress provided for WIFIA $10 million in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 ( P.L. 115-31 ), for a total of $30.0 million for the program for FY2017. For FY2018, the President requested $20.0 million for WIFIA, and Congress provided $63 million in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 ( P.L. In P.L. 114-254 , Congress appropriated the funding authorized in the WIIN Act to assist Flint. 3387 , the Drinking Water System Improvement Act of 2017 ( H.Rept. On September 13, 2018, the House passed S. 3021 , amended and renamed as America's Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) of 2018. This omnibus water resources and infrastructure bill includes elements of H.R. 8 , the House-passed Water Resources Development Act of 2018 (WRDA 2018), and S. 2800 , America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018—which, as reported, includes WRDA, SDWA, CWA, WIFIA, and other provisions. Title II of S. 3021 , as amended, largely parallels H.R. 3387 , along with several other drinking-water-related provisions. S. 2800 ( S.Rept. 1068 , the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 2017, is a broad SDWA reauthorization bill, and Title IV includes numerous amendments to the DWSRF program. Among other revisions, the bill would (1) add Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements, (2) make permanent the Buy American iron and steel requirement for projects receiving DWSRF assistance (which SDWA applied to FY2017 funding), (3) direct states to give funding priority to projects that improve the ability of water systems to protect health and comply with SDWA affordably and to give greater weight to applications that describe measures to improve the management and financial stability of the water system, (4) conditionally require states to use at least 6% of their capitalization grants to provide additional subsidization to disadvantaged communities, (5) incorporate in the statute a governor's authority to transfer as much as 33% of the annual DWSRF or CWSRF capitalization grant to the other fund, (6) increase the amount reserved for insular areas from 0.33% to 1.5%, (7) authorize DWSRF program appropriations at a level of $21.17 billion over five years, (8) authorize EPA to use unobligated funds to make grants to states with water systems disproportionately affected by new regulations to assist those systems, and (9) require EPA to use information from states to develop best practices for DWSRF program administration. (Bills with related lead provisions include H.R. 1653 , the Drinking Water Affordability Act, would (1) extend DWSRF loan amortization periods to 30 years after project completion for public water systems generally and to 40 years for disadvantaged communities, (2) increase the portion of DWSRF funds states may use to provide additional subsidization to disadvantaged communities from 30% to 35%, (3) reauthorize state authority to use DWSRF funds for source water assessment and protection activities, (4) direct EPA to exempt water systems from a federal cross-cutting requirement if the Administrator determined that the state had an equivalent requirement, (5) require EPA to review best practices for streamlining the DWSRF loan process and fund administration and to report to Congress, and (6) direct the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study and report on the cost-effective and economically feasible rehabilitation or replacement of drinking water infrastructure to meet SDWA goals and an assessment of barriers that preclude use of materials and technologies identified in the study.
The state of the nation's water infrastructure and the challenges many communities face in addressing infrastructure needs continue to receive congressional attention. In 1996, Congress authorized the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to help public water systems finance infrastructure projects needed to comply with federal drinking water regulations and to meet the act's health protection objectives. Under this program, states receive annual capitalization grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide financial assistance (primarily subsidized loans) to water systems for drinking water projects and related activities. Through FY2018, Congress has appropriated a total of $20.41 billion for the program. From FY1997 through FY2017, states provided $35.38 billion in DWSRF assistance to water systems for 14,090 projects.
EPA's latest survey of capital improvement needs indicates that public water systems need to invest $472.6 billion on infrastructure improvements over 20 years to ensure the provision of safe drinking water. EPA reports that, while all of the projects identified in the survey would promote SDWA health protection objectives, $57.6 billion (12%) of reported needs are attributable to SDWA compliance. An American Water Works Association study estimates that restoring aging infrastructure and expanding water systems to keep up with population growth would require a nationwide investment of at least $1 trillion through 2035.
Program issues include (1) the gap between estimated needs and funding; (2) the growing cost of complying with SDWA standards; (3) the ability of small or disadvantaged communities to afford DWSRF or other financing; and (4) the broader need for cities to maintain, upgrade, and expand infrastructure unrelated to SDWA compliance. Several overarching policy questions are under debate, including the appropriate federal role in providing financial assistance for local water infrastructure projects and potential funding mechanisms that could supplement or replace a program reliant on annual appropriations.
Enacted in 2014, the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA; P.L. 113-121,Title V) authorized a five-year pilot loan guarantee program to promote increased development of, and private investment in, primarily large water infrastructure projects. Congress noted that WIFIA was intended to complement, not replace, the DWSRF program and the similar Clean Water Act State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) program for wastewater infrastructure. For FY2017, Congress provided $30.0 million for WIFIA ($25 million for EPA to provide loan guarantees for water infrastructure projects and $5 million for administrative costs).
The Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN Act; P.L. 114-322) made several revisions to the DWSRF program and authorized $100 million in DWSRF appropriations to Michigan to assist the City of Flint in repairing its water system. In P.L. 114-254, Congress appropriated the DWSRF funding authorized in the WIIN Act. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (P.L. 115-31), included $863.23 million in DWSRF program.
For FY2018, the President requested $863 million for the DWSRF program and $20 million for WIFIA. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141), included $1.16 billion for the DWSRF program and $63 million for WIFIA.
Numerous bills in the 115th Congress would expand DWSRF eligibilities, increase funding authority, and authorize new programs to assist water systems and improve infrastructure. Two such bills have been reported: (1) the Drinking Water System Improvement Act of 2017 (H.R. 3387), a SDWA reauthorization bill with provisions intended to improve water systems, SDWA compliance, infrastructure resilience, consumer confidence, and source water protection, among others; and (2) America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (S. 2800), an omnibus water resources development act (WRDA) and infrastructure bill that includes SDWA, the Clean Water Act (CWA) and WIFIA SRF provisions. On September 13, 2018, the House passed (amended and renamed) S. 3021, America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (AWIA), which includes elements of S. 2800 and H.R. 8, the House-passed WRDA 2018 bill. Title II of AWAI closely parallels H.R. 3387 and includes other drinking water-related provisions. Title IV contains WIFIA SRF, CWSRF, and other CWA amendments.