This bill would create a grant program at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help rural areas adopt digital infrastructure technology for water systems and treatment works. "Digital infrastructure technology" in the bill includes remote sensing, flow and pressure monitoring, real-time monitoring and analytics, industrial control systems (like SCADA), artificial or embedded intelligence, hydraulic analysis and digital design tools. Grants can pay for designing, building, operating, and maintaining these systems for drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, desalination, reuse, distribution and conveyance systems, and source water protection or aquifer recharge. Grants also may fund training and workforce development and on-site cybersecurity training and technical assistance. The program allows grant funds to be used to buy and maintain software. The EPA is told to prioritize systems that serve fewer than 3,300 people and community-controlled or locally owned systems. The bill also requires the Comptroller General to study the effects of adopting digital infrastructure technology in rural water projects and to report results, along with program results, to named congressional committees.
If you run or own a rural public water system or treatment works, or represent a State or Tribe acting on their behalf, you may be eligible for grants to add digital monitoring, control, design, or cybersecurity tools. The program targets small systems (fewer than 3,300 people) and community-controlled utilities. Grants may cover planning, construction, operation, maintenance, software costs, training for staff, and efforts to reduce cyber vulnerabilities.
The bill authorizes $50,000,000 to be appropriated to the EPA for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031, to remain available until expended. The text does not include other cost estimates or a total federal budget impact beyond those authorized annual amounts. No publicly available information on administrative or other specific costs is provided in the bill text.
No publicly available information.
No publicly available information.