§300j–19h Advanced drinking water technologies

Summary

The Administrator must, if money is available, finish a study within one year after November 15, 2021 that looks at current and possible future technologies—including tools to help with cybersecurity—that can make drinking water treatment, monitoring, cost, efficiency, and safety better for public water systems, and must send the study results to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The law also creates a competitive grant program. It defines "eligible entity" as an owner or operator of a public water system that serves not more than 100,000 people (or a certain type of community), has or is planning to find ways to use proven new or emerging technologies (including cybersecurity), and is interested in doing so. The Administrator must run the grant competition, accept applications, and award grants to help identify and/or deploy those technologies. Federal funding can cover up to 90% of project costs, but the Administrator may raise that to 100% if an entity cannot pay or would have serious financial hardship. The Administrator must report to Congress starting within 2 years after the first grant and every year after, listing recipients and summarizing activities. Congress authorized $10,000,000 per year for fiscal years 2022 through 2026, available until spent, with up to 2% each year allowed for program administration.