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The House of Representatives on November 30 easily passed legislation to reauthorize Safe Drinking Water Act technical assistance programs for rural communities.  The U.S. Senate approved the legislation in June, and President Obama signed the measure into law on December 11.

Introduced by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the “Grassroots Rural and Small Community Water Systems Assistance Act” (S. 611) would extend EPA’s technical assistance program for small public water systems through 2020.  The program’s most recent authorization had expired in 2011, even though Congress continued to fund the efforts in the meantime.  The new legislation maintains the previous statutory authorization of $15 million annually for the program, with three percent of that reserved for technical assistance for public water systems owned or operated by Indian Tribes.

As it does today, the bill would continue to route technical assistance dollars through nonprofit organizations that offer small water systems “onsite technical assistance” programs as well as other assistance on topics such as “implementing monitoring plans, rules, regulations, and water security enhancements.”  The bill would also bar the use of technical assistance dollars to bring a citizen suit under the Safe Drinking Water Act.