Assistance, Quality, and Affordability Act of 2017
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Environment.
Assistance, Quality, and Affordability Act of 2017
This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize for FY2018-FY2022 and revise the drinking water state revolving fund (SRF), including to require SRF-funded projects to use iron and steel produced in the United States.
The bill revises requirements for state Intended Use Plans for SRF funds, including to require the plans to: (1) list systems that are not in compliance with national primary drinking water regulation, (2) reserve a specified amount of funding for assistance for disadvantaged communities, and (3) prioritize SRF funding for disadvantaged communities when steps to implement improvements to meet new drinking water standards are not affordable to those communities.
The bill repeals: (1) requirements for regulations on variance technologies, and (2) state authority to exempt small public water systems from national primary drinking water regulations if the system installs certain treatment techniques.
The Environmental Protection Agency must:
prescribe follow up inspections after violations by public water systems,
establish requirements for electronic submission of compliance monitoring data by public water systems,
study the presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in drinking water sources,
collect data on best practices for administration of SRF programs,
implement a voluntary certification program for effective water loss and leak control technology, and
submit a strategic plan for assessing and managing the risks of drought to drinking water provided by public water systems.
The bill also reauthorizes for FY2018-FY2022 a grant program for certain lead reduction projects.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 15, 2017. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 17, 2017: Referred to the Subcommittee on Environment.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Paul Tonko (D-NY) introduced it on February 15, 2017, and 20 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 20 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 15, 2017, 3494 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3492 days ago, on February 17, 2017.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers