Rural families who rely on private wells or septic systems — rather than municipal water — could get more help fixing or replacing them under this bill. It expands an existing USDA grant program that funds nonprofits to provide low-cost loans and assistance for household water wells and decentralized wastewater systems in rural areas. Key changes: the program would now also cover wastewater systems (not just wells), increase the maximum household loan from ,000 to ,000 for wells and ,000 for wastewater, and prioritize communities lacking access to safe drinking water. Authorization goes from million to million per year.
Congressional Summary
This bill revises and reauthorizes through FY2031 a program that provides financial assistance for rural water systems under the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act.Under the existing program, the Department of Agriculture may provide grants to nonprofit organizations that in turn must provide subgrants and loans to individuals for household water well systems or individually owned household decentralized wastewater systems in rural areas.This bill modifies the eligibility requirements for subgrants. To be eligible for a subgrant, an individual must be a member of a household with an annual combined income that is no more than 60% of the median nonmetropolitan household income for the area served by the nonprofit (currently, the state or territory in which the individual resides).The bill also allows a subgrant for a household decentralized wastewater system to include sufficient additional funding to cover the cost of a performance warranty with a duration of at least five years.In addition, the bill allows loans to be awarded to an individual who is a member of a household with an annual combined income that is 60% to 100% of the median nonmetropolitan household income for the area.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2026-03-12
- Date Added
- 2026-04-14