Federal funding for urban canal repairs—35% grant, 65% loan to operators.
S. 2753 — Urban Canal Modernization Act · Filed by James Risch (R-ID) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 10, 2025 · Reported out
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What it does
This bill amends the 2009 Omnibus Public Land Management Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to fund emergency repairs and upgrades to urban canals that serve more than 100 people and are at risk of failure. The federal government will pay 35% of costs upfront as a grant; the remaining 65% will be loaned to the canal operator, who must repay it. The bill also allows reimbursable federal loans to count toward cost-sharing requirements for other federal grants.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to authorize federal funding for urban canal maintenance and repairs. It is a straightforward amendment to existing water infrastructure law, adding a new category of eligible projects and specifying cost-sharing terms.
What the text implies
- The definition of 'urban canal of concern' depends on Secretary-developed guidelines under section 9602(a), which are not quoted in this bill—the actual scope of eligible projects is determined by administrative rule, not statute.
- Reimbursable federal loans counting as 'non-Federal source of funds' for cost-sharing purposes may allow canal operators to leverage this federal money to unlock additional federal grants, multiplying the effective federal subsidy.
- The bill does not specify appropriations or a funding cap, leaving the total federal commitment open-ended.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens in areas served by urban canals gain improved infrastructure reliability and reduced flood/failure risk. The cost-sharing structure (35% federal grant, 65% loan) is reasonable for critical public infrastructure, and the bill does not restrict citizen rights or protections.
Who stands to gain
- water districts and canal operating entities (loan recipients and grant recipients)
- construction and engineering firms (contractors for repair work)
Named in the bill
Secretary of the Interior, Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, transferred works operating entity, urban canal of concern
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 1 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Sep 10, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 10, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources”
- Mar 17, 2026 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power. Hearings held”
- Jun 10, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,305 characters) on Jul 6, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 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 2026-10-20.
“Federal funding for urban canal repairs—35% grant, 65% loan to operators.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s2753 Report an error
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