Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Act of 2025
HB3376, the Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Act of 2025, would create a new federal trust fund dedicated to water and sewer infrastructure and related public health needs. The bill finances the trust fund by increasing the corporate income tax rate from 21 percent to 24.5 percent, with the resulting federal revenue directed to water and wastewater programs. The fund would support a broad set of activities, including clean water and drinking water state revolving funds, grants for household water wells and colonias, Indian Health Service sanitation projects, water operator job training, and school drinking water infrastructure improvements.
The bill also expands and revises several existing water-related programs. It increases funding for household well systems, school drinking water infrastructure, tribal drinking water assistance, and colonias assistance, while changing eligibility and use rules for state revolving funds under the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. It authorizes funding for lead service line replacement, PFAS contamination response, acquisition of privately owned water systems in some circumstances, and cancellation of private operation or management contracts for water systems. It also requires states to allow project labor agreements on funded construction projects and creates a new water operator job training grant program with a focus on low-income communities and environmental justice areas.
In addition to funding changes, the bill directs EPA to study water affordability, service shutoffs, discriminatory practices, civil rights violations, regionalization, and data gaps affecting people without water or sewer service. EPA must report to Congress within one year with findings and recommendations for utilities, federal agencies, and states. The bill therefore affects both federal tax law and multiple provisions of the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and related rural development and workforce statutes.
The overall sentiment reflected in the bill text is strongly supportive of public investment in water affordability, infrastructure reliability, equity, and labor standards. Because there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes provided, there is no direct evidence of debate or opposition in the available materials. The bill’s structure and sponsor list suggest a coalition-oriented, pro-investment approach focused on public health, environmental justice, and workforce development.
Potential points of contention are likely to include the corporate tax increase used to finance the trust fund, the expanded federal role in water system ownership and management, the project labor agreement requirements, and the bill’s emphasis on equity and civil rights enforcement. Stakeholders that may support the bill include local governments, public water utilities, labor organizations, tribal governments, rural communities, and environmental justice advocates, while opponents may object to the tax increase, labor mandates, and federal conditions attached to water infrastructure funding.
The bill would amend the Internal Revenue Code to create a dedicated Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Trust Fund and raise the corporate tax rate to finance it. It would also revise multiple provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, and the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act to expand grants, loans, subsidies, and training for water and sewer infrastructure, lead remediation, PFAS response, tribal sanitation, rural wells, colonias, and school drinking water systems. These changes would materially increase federal involvement in water infrastructure funding and program design, while imposing new state requirements tied to receiving revolving-fund assistance.
The bill appears to be framed positively and aspirationally, emphasizing affordability, transparency, equity, reliability, and public health. The sponsor list indicates broad Democratic support, and the bill’s provisions reflect a pro-investment, pro-labor, and environmental justice orientation. No votes or committee transcript excerpts are available, so there is no recorded evidence of formal support or opposition beyond the bill’s text and sponsorship.
The most likely areas of contention are the financing mechanism and the regulatory conditions attached to the funding. Raising the corporate income tax rate to 24.5 percent may draw opposition from business and tax-policy critics. The bill’s requirements for project labor agreements, restrictions on use of funds, and expanded federal standards for state revolving funds may also be controversial among states, utilities, and anti-mandate stakeholders. Provisions allowing purchase of privately owned water systems, cancelation of private management contracts, and stronger civil rights and affordability scrutiny could also be disputed by private operators and some state or local administrators.