II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 783
To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to provide
additional assistance to rural water, wastewater, and waste disposal sys-
tems, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY27, 2025
Mrs. S
HAHEEN(for herself and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu-
trition, and Forestry
A BILL
To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development
Act to provide additional assistance to rural water,
wastewater, and waste disposal systems, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Assistance for Rural 4
Water Systems Act of 2025’’. 5
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•S 783 IS
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE FOR RURAL WATER SYS-1
TEMS. 2
Subtitle A of the Consolidated Farm and Rural De-3
velopment Act is amended by inserting after section 306A 4
(7 U.S.C. 1926a) the following: 5
‘‘SEC. 306B. ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE FOR RURAL WATER 6
SYSTEMS. 7
‘‘(a) D
EFINITION OFELIGIBLEENTITY.—In this sec-8
tion, the term ‘eligible entity’ means a rural water, waste-9
water, or waste disposal facility with respect to which as-10
sistance may be provided under a water, wastewater, or 11
waste disposal program under section 306(a), 306A, 12
306C, or 306D. 13
‘‘(b) A
DDITIONALASSISTANCE.— 14
‘‘(1) G
RANTS AND LOANS.—The Secretary may 15
provide a grant, a zero percent interest loan, or a 1 16
percent interest loan to an eligible entity. 17
‘‘(2) E
XISTING LOANS.—The Secretary may— 18
‘‘(A) forgive principal or interest or modify 19
any term or condition of an outstanding loan 20
made to an eligible entity; or 21
‘‘(B) refinance part or all of any other loan 22
(if the purpose of the loan is an eligible purpose 23
under section 306(a)(1) or 306C) made to an 24
eligible entity. 25
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•S 783 IS
‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not pro-1
vide assistance under paragraph (2) with respect to 2
a loan made under paragraph (1). 3
‘‘(c) E
LIGIBLEPURPOSES.—The Secretary may pro-4
vide assistance to an eligible entity under subsection (b) 5
as the Secretary determines is necessary— 6
‘‘(1) to ensure that the eligible entity has the 7
necessary resources to maintain public health, safe-8
ty, or order; or 9
‘‘(2) to address financial hardships of the eligi-10
ble entity, if the eligible entity is located in a dis-11
advantaged or economically distressed area, as deter-12
mined under subsection (d). 13
‘‘(d) D
ETERMINATION.—To determine whether an el-14
igible entity may receive assistance pursuant to subsection 15
(c)(2), the Secretary shall establish— 16
‘‘(1) a residential indicator of affordable water 17
services in each State or local or geographic area, 18
calculated using the cost per household as a percent-19
age of median household income; and 20
‘‘(2) factors relating to disadvantaged or eco-21
nomically distressed areas.’’. 22
Æ
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