AACCENT Act

Augmentative and Alternative Communication Centers of Excellence and National Technical Assistance Act or the AACCENT Act

This bill establishes a grant program to create national resource centers on augmentative and alternative communication.

Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to award three grants in geographically diverse regions to establish a network of these resource centers for individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities, particularly through improved access to tools, technologies, strategies, training, and other methods.

Significant expressive communication disabilities are communication disabilities (other than communication disabilities that are primarily visual or auditory in nature) that prevent or significantly limit an individual from understanding or being understood using spoken words.

Nogales Wastewater Improvement Act of 2023

The bill also establishes requirements to address wastewater from the International Outfall Interceptor, which is a pipeline that carries wastewater from the United States-Mexico border to the Nogales International Wastewater Treatment Plant. The plant, which is located in Rio Rico, Arizona, treats sewage and wastewater originating from Nogales, Mexico, and Nogales, Arizona.

The bill transfers the ownership, operations, and maintenance of the pipeline from the city of Nogales, Arizona, to the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission. The commission must construct, operate, and maintain a debris screen at the pipeline's Manhole One for intercepting debris and drugs coming into the United States from Nogales, Mexico.

The bill also limits the portion of the costs that the city of Nogales, Arizona, must pay for the Nogales sanitation project.