Report on affordability, discrimination and civil rights violations, public participation in regionalization, and data collection

(a) Study (1) In general The Administrator shall conduct a study on water and sewer services in accordance with this subsection. (2) Affordability In conducting the study under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall study water affordability across the United States, including— (A) rates for water and sewer services, increases in those rates during the 10-year period preceding the study, and water service disconnections due to unpaid water service charges; and (B) the effectiveness of funding under section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12) and under title VI of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.) for promoting affordable, equitable, transparent, and reliable water and sewer service. (3) Discrimination and civil rights In conducting the study under paragraph (1), the Administrator, in collaboration with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, shall study— (A) discriminatory practices of water and sewer service providers; (B) discriminatory practices of State program administrators in allocating funding; and (C) violations by those service providers and program administrators that receive Federal assistance of civil rights under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) with respect to equal access to water and sewer services. (4) Public participation in regionalization In conducting the study under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall evaluate efforts to regionalize public water systems (as defined in section 1401 of the Safe Water Drinking Act (42 U.S.C. 300f)) and sewer services with respect to public participation in— (A) the decision to undergo that regionalization; and (B) decisionmaking by the board of directors (or other governing body) of the entity that provides, or oversees or coordinates the provision of, water by the public water systems subject to such regionalization. (5) Data collection In conducting the study under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall collect information, assess the availability of information, and evaluate the methodologies used to collect information with respect to— (A) people living without water or sewer services; (B) water service disconnections due to unpaid water service charges, including disconnections experienced by households containing children, elderly persons, disabled persons, chronically ill persons, or other vulnerable populations; (C) tax liens and foreclosures due to unpaid water service charges; and (D) disparate effects, on the basis of race, gender, or socioeconomic status, of water service disconnections, tax liens and foreclosures due to unpaid water service charges, and the lack of public water service. (b) Report Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report that contains— (1) the results of the study conducted under subsection (a)(1); and (2) recommendations for utility companies, Federal agencies, and States relating to those results.