S 716 IS

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to nonprofit organizations to finance the construction, refurbishing, and servicing of individually-owned household water well systems in rural areas for individuals with low or moderate incomes.

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to nonprofit organizations to finance the construction, refurbishing, and servicing of individually-owned household water well systems in rural areas for individuals with low or moderate incomes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Affordable Drinking Water Act of 2001'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds that--

(1) affordable access to safe, reliable drinking water is in the public interest;

(2) approximately 10,000,000 households in the United States receive drinking water from household water well systems;

(3) according to a national survey, more than 80 percent of those well owners express a preference for water from their household water well system over water from a community drinking water system or bottled water;

(4) many consumers and farms in the United States receive drinking water from older household water well systems that are not constructed to current standards;

(5) those systems should be upgraded to ensure consumer and farm access to the safest and most reliable sources of drinking water;

(6) the Department of Agriculture, including the Rural Utilities Service, has no program focused on funding the construction, refurbishment, or servicing of individually-owned household water well systems; and

(7) centralized water systems are not always the most cost-efficient way to deliver safe, reliable drinking water to rural customers.

SEC. 3. GRANTS TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS TO FINANCE THE CONSTRUCTION, REFURBISHING, AND SERVICING OF INDIVIDUALLY-OWNED HOUSEHOLD WATER WELL SYSTEMS IN RURAL AREAS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH LOW OR MODERATE INCOMES.

(a) IN GENERAL- Subtitle A of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1922 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 306D (7 U.S.C. 1926d) the following:

`SEC. 306E. GRANTS TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS TO FINANCE THE CONSTRUCTION, REFURBISHING, AND SERVICING OF INDIVIDUALLY-OWNED HOUSEHOLD WATER WELL SYSTEMS IN RURAL AREAS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH LOW OR MODERATE INCOMES.

`(a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL- In this section, the term `eligible individual' means an individual who is a member of a household, the combined income of whose members for the most recent 12-month period for which the information is available, is not more than 100 percent of the median nonmetropolitan household income for the State or territory in which the individual resides, according to the most recent decennial census of the United States.

`(b) GRANTS- The Secretary may make grants to private nonprofit organizations for the purpose of assisting eligible individuals in obtaining financing for the construction, refurbishing, and servicing of individual household water well systems in rural areas that are owned (or to be owned) by the eligible individuals.

`(c) USE OF FUNDS- A grant made under this section may be--

`(1) used, or invested to provide income to be used, to carry out subsection (b); and

`(2) used to pay administrative expenses associated with providing the assistance described in subsection (b).

`(d) PRIORITY IN AWARDING GRANTS- In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to an applicant that has substantial expertise and experience in promoting the safe and productive use of individually-owned household water well systems and ground water.'.

(b) EFFECTIVE DATE- The amendment made by this section takes effect on October 1, 2001.