EPA gives rural water systems money for leak-finding tools
H.R. 9776 — FLOWS Act of 2026 · Filed by Rick Crawford (R-AR) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jul 20, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill sets up a $50 million per year program from 2027 to 2031. The EPA gives grants to rural water systems. Systems can buy sensors, tools, and software to find leaks. Small systems serving fewer than 3,300 people get priority. The bill also requires a study to check if the program works.
Who it affects
Rural residents get better water system checks and better water use. Small water systems and public-run water systems get priority for grants. The bill does not cost households money or take away any rights.
One thing to notice
The bill favors public-run water systems over private ones. A study due in 2031 will show if the program works.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Jul 20, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 20, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce and House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- grant — Money the government gives to a group for a specific purpose.
- EPA — The federal office that protects water and the environment.
- sensors — Devices that detect and measure things like water flow.
- public-run water systems — Water systems owned and run by the public, not by a private company.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (6,526 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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