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H.R. 5837: Rural Septic Tank Access Act

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H.R. 5837: Rural Septic Tank Access Act

115th Congress · introduced 2018-05-16 · Water Resources Development · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2018-05-16 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Rep. Sewell, Terri A. [D-AL-7] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Referred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Rural Septic Tank Access Act

Plain summary

Rural Septic Tank Access Act This bill amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to reauthorize and modify the Department of Agriculture (USDA) Household Water Well System Grant Program. (Under current law, the program awards grants for private nonprofit organizations to provide loans to eligible individuals for the construction, refurbishing, and servicing of individual household water well systems that are or will be owned by the eligible individuals in rural areas.) The bill modifies the program to: prohibit the household income of an eligible individual from exceeding 60% (currently 100%) of the median nonmetropolitan household income, require grant recipients to provide subgrants to eligible individuals instead of loans, authorize subgrants for household decentralized wastewater systems, and limit the amount of each subgrant provided to an individual to $20,000 for each water well system or decentralized wastewater system. In the event of well water contamination, USDA must allow a subgrant to be used to install water treatment measures as needed beyond the point of entry, with or without the installation of new well equipment.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Rural Septic Tank Access Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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The strongest published arguments

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Sewell, Terri A. [D-AL-7] · 1 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Mike Rogers (R-AL)

Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Sewell, Terri A. [D-AL-7] reported raising $2.3 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (2)
Authorization
A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Bill
A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong115-hr5837 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong115 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong115