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119-s-4980119th CongressWALLET

Water Emergency and Technical Assistance Act of 2026

Sponsored By: Senator Markey, Edward J. [D-MA]

Introduced

Summary

Expands federal emergency aid for drinking water and wastewater and adds an explicit affordability test for ratepayers. This bill widens who can get federal help during water system emergencies and raises the money available to respond, including for cybersecurity incidents.

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  • Ratepayers and households: Requires decisionmakers to consider whether emergency actions are “economically feasible for ratepayers,” which factors local customer cost into whether federal help pays for certain emergency measures.
  • States and public treatment works: Creates a new Emergency Technical Assistance and Grants program that lets the Administrator provide technical help and grants to States or publicly owned treatment works to respond to emergencies, explicitly including cybersecurity events. Grants may fund only activities needed to prevent or limit danger to public health and that would not be economically feasible for ratepayers.
  • Federal programs and funding: Raises the Safe Drinking Water Act emergency authorization from $35.0 million per year (FY2022–2026) to $50.0 million per year for FY2027–2031 and authorizes $50.0 million per year for the new Clean Water Act emergency grants for FY2027–2031. The Administrator may coordinate this authority with other emergency programs without those programs’ limits capping the new amounts.

*Authorizes $50.0 million per year for each program for FY2027–2031, increasing federal spending authority compared with prior law.*

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

More federal help for water emergencies

This bill would create a new federal program to give technical help and grants to States and publicly owned treatment works for water emergencies. Grants would cover emergencies the Administrator finds present substantial danger to public health, including cybersecurity events. Grants would only pay for actions needed to stop the public-health danger and that the Administrator judges ratepayers could not afford. The bill would also require the Administrator to consider whether emergency drinking-water actions would be economically feasible for ratepayers and would authorize $50 million per year for the new grants and $50 million per year for drinking-water emergency actions for each fiscal year 2027 through 2031.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Markey, Edward J. [D-MA]

MA • D

Cosponsors

  • Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA]

    MA • D

    Sponsored 7/14/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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