Water Infrastructure Trust Fund Act of 2016
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish in the Treasury a Water Infrastructure Investment Trust Fund and appropriates to it amounts equivalent to the fees received in the Treasury before January 1, 2022, under this Act.
The bill requires 85% of amounts in the Fund to be available to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for capitalization grants under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act or CWA) and 15% to be available for capitalization grants under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Amounts in the Fund may not be made available for a fiscal year unless the amount of funds appropriated to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund through annual capitalization grants is not less than the average of the annual amounts provided in capitalization grants under the CWA for the immediately preceding five-fiscal-year period.
The Department of the Treasury shall: (1) implement a program under which it provides a label suitable for placement on products (for a fee of three cents per unit) to inform consumers that the manufacturer, producer, or importer of the product and other stakeholders participate in the Fund and are contributing to America's clean water; and (2) deposit amounts received in the Treasury.
The EPA, with participation by the states, shall conduct a study to: (1) assess the affordability gap faced by low-income populations located in urban and rural areas in obtaining services from clean water and drinking water systems; and (2) analyze options for programs to provide incentives for rate adjustments at the local level to achieve full cost or true value pricing for such services, while protecting low-income ratepayers from undue burden.