Senate
Environment Committee Introduces Water Infrastructure
Bill
Demonstrating the national prominence that AMSA and the Water
Infrastructure Network have brought to the water and wastewater
infrastructure funding debate, the Senate Environment and Public
Works (EPW) Committee introduced a water and wastewater
infrastructure funding bill, S. 1961, the Water Investment Act of
2002. The bill would significantly amend the funding sections of
the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act and would
authorize over $35 billion for clean water and the safe drinking
water state revolving funds over five years. For the first time,
funds would be made available to both public and privately owned
systems and it would extend several provisions of the Drinking
Water State Revolving Loan Fund to the Clean Water State Revolving
Loan Fund and allow for the transfer of funds between the two.
Committee Chairman Jim Jeffords (I-VT) and ranking member
Robert Smith (R-NH) were joined by the leadership of the water
resources subcommittee, Senators Bob Graham (D-FL) and Michael
Crapo (R-ID) in sponsoring the bill.
While boosting funding levels, the bill also focuses
extensively on the technical, managerial, and financial capacity
of utilities to ensure the accountability of loan recipients and
makes asset management and long-term rate structure planning a
requirement for receiving loans. AMSA has requested that its
members contact their Senators and express the Association’s
recommended modifications to S. 1961. AMSA’s February 28 Senate
testimony and Association initiatives on S. 1961 and other
infrastructure bills will be more fully covered in the next Clean
Water News.
You can download a copy of the Water Investment Act of 2002 at
http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/legalrts/la02-01a.pdf
and members can access AMSA’s initial analysis of the bill at
http://www.amsa-cleanwater.org/private/legreg/legalrts/la02-2.cfm.
