Section 6007 Farm Bill

SEC. 6009. EMERGENCY AND IMMINENT COMMUNITY WATER ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM.

Section 306A of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926a) is amended--

(1) in the section heading, by inserting `and imminent' after `emergency';

(2) in subsection (a)--

(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting `, or when such a decline is imminent' before the semicolon at the end;

and

(B) in paragraph (2)--

(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking `acute' and inserting `acute, or imminent,'; and

(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking `decline' and inserting `decline, or imminent decline,';

(3) in subsection (c)(2), by striking `occurred' and inserting `occurred, or will occur,';

(4) in subsection (d), by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:

`(1) IN GENERAL- Grants made under this section may be used--

`(A) for waterline extensions from existing systems, laying of new waterlines, repairs, significant maintenance, digging of new wells, equipment replacement, and hook and tap fees;

`(B) for any other appropriate purpose associated with developing sources of, treating, storing, or distributing water;

`(C) to assist communities in complying with the requirements of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) or the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.); and

`(D) to provide potable water to communities through other means.';

(5) in subsection (f)(2), by striking `$75,000' and inserting `$150,000';

(6) in subsection (h)--

(A) in the second sentence of paragraph (1), by striking `decline' and inserting `decline, or imminent decline,'; and

(B) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:

`(2) TIMING OF REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS-

`(A) SIMPLIFIED APPLICATION- The application process developed by the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall include a simplified application form that will permit expedited consideration of an application for a grant filed under this section.

`(B) PRIORITY REVIEW- In processing applications for any water or waste grant or loan authorized under this title, the Secretary shall afford priority processing to an application for a grant under this section to the extent funds will be available for an award on the application at the conclusion of priority processing.

`(C) TIMING- The Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, review and act on an application under this section within 60 days after the date on which the application is submitted to the Secretary.'; and

(7) by striking subsection (i) and inserting the following:

`(i) FUNDING-

`(1) RESERVATION-

`(A) IN GENERAL- For each fiscal year, not less than 3 nor more than 5 percent of the total amount made available to carry out section 306(a)(2) for the fiscal year shall be reserved for grants under this section.

`(B) RELEASE- Funds reserved under subparagraph (A) for a fiscal year shall be reserved only until July 1 of the fiscal year.

`(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- In addition to funds made available under paragraph (1), there is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2003 through 2007.'.