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Congressman Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) has introduced legislation to help public water systems improve their infrastructure and ensure safer drinking water. H.R. 6418, the Drinking Water Affordability Act, provides greater flexibility for states to meet their specific needs, ensures that funds are utilized efficiently, and encourages planning to develop cost-efficient ways to protect drinking water.
 
"In a time when budgets are stretched thin, greater flexibility is needed to utilize resources where they can best be used to provide safe and reliable drinking water to residents and businesses," said Latta. "Removing duplicative red tape and providing more flexible loan repayment options for communities will better help them meet their drinking water infrastructure needs. More than just thinking about the short-term implications, it’s also critical that we develop a long-term  approach to our nation’s drinking water infrastructure to ensure the communities across the country will continue to have access to clean water."
 
The Drinking Water Affordability Act:
·     Gives greater flexibility for the repayment of Federal funds that states and local communities use to finance clean drinking infrastructure projects.
 
·     Helps disadvantaged communities better finance their infrastructure through the use of Federal funding.
 
·     Cuts excessive red tape by removing duplicative reporting and paperwork requirements when it’s determined that state standards are equally stringent, or more so, than Federal standards.
 
·     Encourages Congress to look at a long-term approach to addressing drinking water issues and the economic barriers that preclude communities from rehabilitating and replacing their drinking water infrastructure.

Congressman Latta serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee which oversees drinking water policy, and he authored legislation, the Drinking Water Protection Act, that passed into law last year. The bill created a strategic plan to address algal toxins in drinking water.