Water Resources Technical Assistance Review Act
Officially: “Water Resources Technical Assistance Review Act” Read the full text
What it does
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1Short title
This section would allow the Act to be cited as the Water Resources Technical Assistance Review Act.
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1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Water Resources Technical Assistance Review Act .
2GAO report on clean water technical assistance
This section would require the Comptroller General of the United States (the head of the Government Accountability Office) to begin a comprehensive review of all covered technical assistance not later than 1 year after this Act becomes law. The review would have to include a description of all covered technical assistance available to states, Tribes, local governments, and non-governmental organizations, including the regions and populations served and a summary of the activities and actions carried out through covered technical assistance during the 5-year period before this Act. It would also have to include a comprehensive review of how the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, through the Water Technical Assistance initiative known as the WaterTA initiative, identifies, selects, and partners with technical assistance providers to support communities, covering the criteria, evaluation process, and contracting mechanisms used to select providers; the extent of coordination with State, Tribal, and regional partners in selecting and deploying providers; how providers are matched to the needs of local communities, including any pre-engagement scoping activities or community consultations; how providers identify communities in need of technical assistance, including economically distressed communities, and conduct outreach to those communities; the scope and types of assistance delivered through the initiative; and a list of communities that received technical assistance support through the initiative, including the type and cost of assistance each community received and a summary of the outcomes of that assistance. The review would also have to include an analysis of any duplication of covered technical assistance available through multiple Environmental Protection Agency programs; an evaluation of how covered technical assistance builds capacity in communities to access other water infrastructure programs run by the Administrator; an assessment of the needs of economically distressed communities eligible for a clean water infrastructure program run by the Administrator that are not addressed through covered technical assistance; and an evaluation of how the Administrator carries out covered technical assistance in coordination with other Federal agencies that provide technical assistance related to water infrastructure. After completing the review, the Comptroller General would submit a report to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works containing the review's findings and any recommendations to improve covered technical assistance. Not later than 90 days after the Comptroller General submits that report, and then annually for a period of 5 years after that, the Administrator would have to submit to those same two committees a plan detailing any actions the Administrator has taken to comply with the recommendations in the report. For purposes of this section, covered technical assistance means a technical assistance authority, initiative, or program of the Environmental Protection Agency that relates to clean water infrastructure.
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2. GAO report on clean water technical assistance (a) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall initiate a comprehensive review of all covered technical assistance. (b) Requirements The Comptroller General shall include in the review required under subsection (a) the following: (1) A description of all covered technical assistance available to States, Tribes, local governments, and non-governmental organizations, including— (A) the regions and populations that are served through the provision of technical assistance; and (B) a summary of the activities and actions carried out through covered technical assistance during the 5-year period preceding this Act. (2) A comprehensive review of how the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, through the Water Technical Assistance initiative (known as WaterTA initiative ), identifies, selects, and partners with technical assistance providers to support communities, including— (A) a description of the criteria, evaluation process, and contracting mechanisms used for selecting such providers; (B) a description of the extent of coordination with State, Tribal, and regional partners in the selection and deployment of such providers; (C) a description of how such providers are matched to meet the needs of local communities, including any pre-engagement scoping activities or community consultations; (D) a description of how such providers identify communities in need of technical assistance, including economically distressed communities, and conduct outreach to such communities; (E) a description of the scope and types of assistance delivered through such initiative; and (F) a list of communities that received technical assistance support through such initiative, including the type and cost of assistance received by each such community and a summary of the outcomes associated with the provision of such assistance. (3) An analysis of any duplication of covered technical assistance available through multiple programs of the Environmental Protection Agency. (4) An evaluation of how the provision of covered technical assistance builds capacity in communities to access other water infrastructure programs carried out by the Administrator. (5) An assessment of the needs of economically distressed communities eligible to receive assistance under a clean water infrastructure program carried out by the Administrator that are not addressed through covered technical assistance. (6) An evaluation of how the Administrator carries out covered technical assistance in coordination with other Federal agencies providing technical assistance related to water infrastructure. (c) Report Upon the completion of the review conducted under subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate a report containing— (1) the findings of such review; and (2) any recommendations to improve covered technical assistance. (d) Plan for compliance Not later than 90 days after the Comptroller General submits the report required under subsection (c), and annually thereafter for a period of 5 years, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate a plan detailing any actions the Administrator has taken to comply with the recommendations contained in such a report. (e) Covered technical assistance defined In this section, the term covered technical assistance means a technical assistance authority, initiative, or program of the Environmental Protection Agency that is related to clean water infrastructure.
Where it is
In the House.