Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Act of 2025

Increased Funding for Water Infrastructure: The bill allocates massive amounts of money for clean water and safe drinking water, including $17,237,000,000 for various clean water programs and $16,187,000,000 for safe drinking water (Section 3).

Support for Rural and Tribal Communities: Specific funding is designated for rural water services through the Secretary of Agriculture (Section 3(c)) and for the Indian Health Service to improve water, sewer, and solid waste sanitation facilities (Section 3(d)).

Lead Service Line Replacement: The bill allows for grants to help publicly owned water systems replace lead service lines with copper lines at no cost to the property owner (Section 6).

Protection Against Contamination: Funding can be used to help water systems update treatment plants or switch water sources due to contamination from certain perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances (Section 6).

Improved School Water Safety: The bill expands the use of funds to install, repair, or replace infrastructure to ensure drinking water fountains, coolers, and bottle filling stations at schools are lead-free (Section 7).

Addressing Water Affordability and Equity: The Administrator is required to study water affordability, service disconnections, and potential discriminatory practices to better understand and address issues affecting vulnerable populations (Section 4).

Restrictions on Funding Use: Under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, funds cannot be used for projects that provide substantial direct benefits to new communities, lots, or subdivisions, except for specific decentralized wastewater systems (Section 5).

Study and Report Burden: The bill requires the Administrator to conduct a large-scale study and submit a report to Congress within one year, which involves collecting significant amounts of data regarding water services and civil rights (Section 4).