In committee
Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Act of 2025
This bill increases the federal corporate income tax rate from 21% to 24.5% to create a dedicated trust fund for national water and sewer improvements. The money will fund local projects to replace lead service lines at no cost to homeowners, clean up toxic chemicals like PFAS in public and private water supplies, and upgrade water fountains in schools. It also provides financial aid to rural and tribal communities, supports job training for water utility workers, and allows cities to buy out private water systems to run them publicly.
People affected—Operative text does not provide a precise count of affected individuals, though it broadly impacts all corporate taxpayers, public water/wastewater systems, school populations, and utility customers nationwide.
Fiscal magnitude—no CBO estimate published
Reach85provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
What this bill touches.
Collective bargaining+50Pollution & development+45Public works+75Overall tax level+50Role of government+65Native American affairs+40Business taxation+55
Who it helps · who it burdens.
Who it helps
- Publicly owned water and wastewater utilitiesReceive substantial federal trust fund allocations and capitalization grants, as well as authority to use state revolving loan funds to replace lead service lines, remediate PFAS contamination, acquire private facilities, and cancel private operating contracts (Sec. 2(c), Sec. 5(b), Sec. 6(1), Sec. 6(5)).
- Disadvantaged and low-income communitiesMandated to receive at least 50 percent of Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund capitalization grants in the form of additional loan subsidies, grants, or principal forgiveness, and prioritized for water workforce training grants (Sec. 5(c), Sec. 6(2), Sec. 9(f)(3)).
- Property owners and private well owners with contaminated water infrastructureEligible to have lead service lines replaced with lead-free copper pipes at no cost to the property owner, and private well owners are eligible for grants to install filtration systems if contaminated with PFAS (Sec. 6(5)).
- K-12 schoolsEligible for an expanded $1.05 billion grant program through fiscal year 2027 to repair, replace, and test drinking water infrastructure, water fountains, and bottle filling stations to ensure they are lead-free (Sec. 7(a)).
- Tribal governments and Native communitiesReceives a dedicated 3 percent allocation of the Trust Fund for Indian Health Service sanitation facilities and an increased mandatory set-aside from Drinking Water State Revolving Funds doubled from 1.5 percent to 3 percent (Sec. 2(c)(5), Sec. 7(b)).
- Construction trade unions and unionized construction workersStates are required to permit and, to the maximum extent practicable, require project labor agreements for construction projects funded by Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (Sec. 8).
- Border colonias and local governments in border regionsGain access to an increased authorization of $100 million annually through fiscal year 2029 for drinking water grants, and local governments with jurisdiction over eligible communities can now receive grants directly (Sec. 2(c)(4), Sec. 10).
- Water sector job trainees and apprenticesBenefit from a newly authorized competitive grant program providing job training, pre-apprenticeships, and registered apprenticeships for drinking water and wastewater sector careers without local cost-matching requirements (Sec. 2(c)(6), Sec. 9).
Who it burdens
- C corporationsFaces an increased corporate income tax rate from 21 percent to 24.5 percent for tax years beginning after December 31, 2024 (Sec. 2(b)).
- Recipients of Trust Fund assistance who employ workersProhibited from using allocated Trust Fund monies for employer activities intended to persuade employees against organizing or to influence collective bargaining rights (Sec. 2(d)).
Who backs it
- C corporationsPays a higher federal corporate income tax rate, increased from 21 percent to 24.5 percent, to finance the Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Trust Fund (Sec. 2(a)-(b)).
Who opposes it
- Privately owned water and wastewater utility companiesDirectly restricted from receiving Drinking Water State Revolving Fund assistance (unless serving under 10,000 persons and independently owned), and public funds are authorized specifically to finance the buyout of private facilities and the cancellation of private management contracts (Sec. 5(b), Sec. 6(1)).
- Real estate developers of new subdivisionsBarred from having state Clean Water State Revolving Funds subsidize infrastructure projects that directly benefit new real estate subdivisions or developments, unless building an advanced decentralized wastewater system (Sec. 5(a)).