Description:
H.R. 3387 would authorize the appropriation of about $9 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide grants to public water systems, as well as to state, local, and tribal governments, to support drinking water infrastructure projects and to promote compliance with regulations that implement the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
CBO estimates that implementing this legislation would cost about $6 billion over the next five years and an additional $3 billion after 2022, assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts.
The staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that enacting the bill would reduce revenues by $572 million over the next 10 years. Because enacting the bill would reduce revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Enacting the bill would not affect direct spending.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3387 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits by more than $5 billion in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
H.R. 3387 would impose intergovernmental and private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) on public and private owners and operators of public water systems that are regulated by the SDWA, and on other state and local government entities. Based on information provided by the EPA, public water systems, and state and local agencies, CBO estimates that the total cost of complying with the mandates would fall below the annual thresholds for intergovernmental and private-sector mandates established in UMRA ($78 million and $156 million in 2017, respectively, adjusted annually for inflation).
