Key Water Infrastructure Draft Legislation Released in US Senate

May 2020

Late last month, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), Senators John Barrasso (R-WY) and Tom Carper (D-DE), released draft water resources and drinking water legislation, a significant step in the biennial process to maintain and improve America’s water and wastewater infrastructure.[1] The two bills, the America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2020 (“AWIA 2020”)[2] and the Drinking Water Infrastructure Act of 2020 (“DWIA 2020” and, together with AWIA 2020, the “2020 Water Bills”),[3] build upon similar legislation from the last reauthorization in 2018 and could be particularly important to mitigate funding gaps posed by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Below, we summarize provisions in the 2020 Water Bills that may be of interest to our clients and other water industry stakeholders.