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May
17, 2002 |
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EPW Committee Approves Water Investment
Act WASHINGTON, D.C. - The
Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee today approved
the Water Investment Act on a vote of 13 to 6. The bill improves the
financial and environmental sustainability of America's water
programs and provides additional resources to States and localities
to meet water infrastructure needs.
EPW Committee Chairman U.S. Sen. Jim Jeffords, I - Vt., said, "I
am very pleased that the Committee has approved this vitally
important bill. The Water Investment Act authorizes $20 billion for
clean water projects, such as wastewater treatment plants, and $15
billion for safe drinking water projects, such as drinking water
supply systems and authorizes $1 billion a year for five years to
help small communities meet the arsenic equirement. It also contains
a provision to reauthorize a wet weather grant program at $250
million per year for five years to remedy sewerage overflows. This
bill increases loan subsidization for disadvantaged communities,
increases flexibility of water infrastructure loans terms and
promotes innovative, nontraditional methods of resolving water
quality problems."
The Bill:
Increases Funding This legislation authorizes funding of $20
billion over 5 years nationwide for clean water and $15 billion over
5 years nationwide for safe drinking water projects.
Improves Financial Efficiency The legislation also aims to ensure
that water facilities that borrow SRF funds are accountable and
financially sustainable when they construct water infrastructure.
Specifically, this bill ensures that recipients of funds under the
CWSRF have the basic technical, managerial, and financial capacity
to operate their systems. It also ensures that basic financial
management practices, such as asset management planning, are in
place or under development.
The Water Investment Act requires states to develop a strategy
within three years of the date of enactment to assist treatment
works in developing technical, managerial, and financial capacity
(hereafter referred to as "capacity"). In order to ensure that
facilities are utilizing the most efficient organizational structure
possible, this bill requires that facilities consider restructuring
plans before receiving funds from the SRF. Theses options include
consolidation of management or ownership with another facility,
forming cooperative partnerships, or using non-structural
alternatives or technologies.
Water infrastructure plans which are not coordinated with
existing local development plans may inadvertently provide
incentives for excessive or uncontrolled growth. This legislation
ecognizes that concern and includes a provision that specifically
requires States to ensure that water projects are coordinated with
local land use plans, regional transportation improvement and
long-range transportation plans, and state, regional and municipal
watershed plans.
In order to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of
water systems, facilities are also required, as a condition of
receipt of funds, to have in place or have a plan in place to
achieve, a rate structure that reflects the actual cost of service.
This feature is designed to ensure that once this federal investment
occurs, the local owners of these plants will take the management
actions necessary to repair and replace their existing
infrastructure in the future with minimal state and federal
assistance.
Recognizing that private wastewater facilities provide a valuable
public good and generally operate with financial accountability,
this bill allows privately-owned wastewater facilities to access
funds from the CWSRF. Already permitted under the Safe Drinking
Water Act, States will be required to make private wastewater
facilities eligible for funding under the CWSRF if such utilities
are identified in the State's needs survey. Many small systems are
privately owned and the most in need of assistance, yet currently
ineligible for assistance.
Increases Flexibility in Loans Recognizing that not all
communities possess the resources to complete these plans, states
are authorized to provide assistance, including principal
forgiveness, to treatment works to help develop capacity.
In order to provide flexibility in state loan programs and to
address the needs of disadvantaged communities, this bill permits
states to extend the repayment time for loans. Noting the success of
the disadvantaged communities programs of the Safe Drinking Water
Act, this bill authorizes similar programs under the Clean Water
Act. Specifically, it allows the administrators of state SRF's to
extend the repayment of a loan to a disadvantaged community from 20
to 40 years and allows more favorable loan terms (including
principal forgiveness) for those loans. The bill also permits states
to extend the repayment of a loan to all other communities from 20
to 30 years. Recognizing the needs of larger communities with
diverse income groups within their borders, S. 1961 also includes a
new opportunity for States to provide more favorable loan terms to
communities that may not be disadvantaged as a whole, but contain
pockets of disadvantaged individuals.
This bill authorizes States to direct assistance to disadvantaged
individuals (based on the State's affordability criteria) through
individual rate structures in a service area or through a similarly
effective program.
The bill further enhances the flexibility offered to states by
making the authority to transfer up to 33% funds between the Safe
Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act State revolving funds
permanent.
Broader Project Eligibility In order to increase States' options
to address water quality, the bill also expands project eligibility.
Under current law, projects to construct publicly owned treatment
works, to fund nonpoint source plans and estuary plans are all
eligible for assistance. S. 1961 makes several important changes to
the eligibility and the priority lists.
First, it revises eligibility under the Clean Water Act to
include water conservation, reuse, and recycling, and for security.
It also includes provisions that require that a State 's priority
list include not only treatment works, but also all eligible
projects.
Currently, states are only required to list teatment works
projects rather than include all eligible projects. This change
ensures that projects included in Nonpoint Source Management
Programs (319 plans) and National Estuary Programs (320 plans) as
well as conservation, reuse and recycling projects, and for security
are considered in intended use plans. S. 1961 also clarifies that
planning, design, and associated preconstruction costs are eligible
for funds under the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act
State Revolving Funds as stand-alone items.
Increased Assistance to Small Systems The vast majority of
wastewater and drinking water facilities are classified as small.
Yet, small communities may not possess the resources to develop
capacity. To ensure that both public and private small systems can
effectively develop projects to solve water problems, S. 1961
provides four main types of technical assistance for small
communities.
It permits the state to use up to 2% of its capitalization grant
to provide grants to small systems (classified as systems serving
10,000 people or less) for assistance in financial management, user
fee analysis, budgeting, capital improvement planning, and repair
scheduling.
It authorizes $7 million per year over 5 years for technical
assistance to small systems serving less than 3,300 people.
It reauthorizes the Small Public Water Systems Technology
Assistance Centers for an additional $5 million per year over 5
years.
Finally, it reauthorizes the Environmental Finance Centers for
$1.5 million per year over 5 years.
Increased Environmental Sustainability The Water Investment Act
also includes several incentives for use of non-structural
technologies which are often more cost-effective and less
environmentally harmful. It specifically states that these
approaches are eligible to receive funding under the Clean Water
State Revolving Fund and requires that recipients of funds consider
the use of more environmentally sensitive technologies. In addition,
it authorizes a demonstration program at $20 million per year over 5
years to promote innovations in technology and alternative
approaches to water quality management and water supply.
While the Clean Water Act has been generally successful in
addressing point source pollution, nonpoint source pollution
continues to be a problem. The use of nontraditional technologies in
the Water Investment Act will help ensure that nonpoint source
pollution receives appropriate emphasis under the Clean Water Act.
In order to ensure that federal funds are used to remedy problems
of significant noncompliance with the Clean Water Act, S. 1961
requires that water facilities may not receive funds from the State
Revolving Fund unless those funds will enable the facility to remedy
the violations of significant noncompliance. This provision does not
prohibit facilities under enforceable administrative or judicial
orders to address the problem of significant noncompliance from
receiving funds. It also does not prohibit facilities in significant
noncompliance from receiving funds for planning, design, or security
purposes.
It also ensures that public participation in the execution of the
state revolving loan funds will be increased through public
outreach. This will ensure that individuals interested in the
selection and prioritization of water quality projects are given
ample opportunity for participation in the process.
In order to provide States with long-term guidance in planning
for water needs in the future, the bill also requires the United
States Geological Survey to conduct a nationwide assessment that
identifies areas of the U.S. at risk for water shortage or surplus
in the next 50 years and areas where these risks are regional. This
title calls for the Secretary of Interior, through USGS, to conduct
three specific tasks: assess the state of the water resources of the
U.S., develop and execute federal water research priorities, and
share and distribute information. The research priority list is
intended to provide some structure to ongoing federal water resource
research. The Secretary is required to provide the results of the
assessment to Congress and report every 2 years on the
implementation of this title. -- 30 -- |