Affordable Clean Water Infrastructure Act

Key Points

• This bill changes the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to make it easier for rural, small, and tribal communities to get financial help for water and sewer projects. Instead of only offering loans, states can provide more subsidies like grants or loan forgiveness to communities that are struggling financially.
• States would be required to use at least 20 percent of their federal water funding to subsidize projects in low-income communities, as long as enough qualifying applications exist. This creates a floor to guarantee that disadvantaged areas actually receive help.
• An extra 10 percent of federal capitalization grants can be set aside specifically for rural, small, and tribal publicly owned treatment works, giving these communities a dedicated funding stream on top of the general subsidization pool.
• States get more flexibility to subsidize water projects, with the cap raised to 50 percent of their federal capitalization grant or an amount based on their own historical contributions, whichever is greater. The bill also clarifies that subsidization should help ratepayers afford wastewater and stormwater services.
• The bill clarifies that communities can qualify for extra help based on affordability challenges either across the whole community or within the specific geographic area served by a project, making it easier for pockets of low-income residents to get assistance even in otherwise wealthier areas.