 |
News Release |
For Immediate Release: February 4,
2002 |
Contact: Michael
Arceneaux 202-331-2820 |
Water Infrastructure Budget Falls
Short, Says WIN
Washington, DC - The Water
Infrastructure Network today expressed serious concern about the
Administration's fiscal year 2003 budget for drinking water and
wastewater infrastructure funding. For the Drinking Water State
Revolving Fund, the Administration proposed the same amount as last
year - only $850 million. For the Clean Water State Revolving Fund,
only $1.25 billion was proposed, which is $100 million less than
fiscal year 2002. The drinking water SRF has yet to be budgeted at
its authorized level of $1 billion per year, and funding for the
clean water SRF has remained flat for several years.
According to the Water
Infrastructure Network (WIN) - consisting of nearly 40 organizations
representing drinking water and wastewater agencies, local elected
officials, labor, environmentalists and engineering and construction
firms, the budget proposal falls far short of infrastructure needs.
Hearings last year before the Senate Committee on Environment and
Public Works documented a shortfall of up to $1 trillion in the
needed level of investment for meeting federal requirements and the
repair and replacement of aging infrastructure over the next twenty
years.
Local governments and utility
ratepayers currently shoulder over 90 percent of all spending on
drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. However, says WIN,
they cannot fund all that is needed in the next five years without
significant federal assistance.
Replacing aging treatment plants
and pipes and meeting federal requirements without federal
assistance often requires diverting scarce funds from other
important local priorities, such as police and fire protection. If
the nation is committed to safe drinking water and clean lakes and
rivers, there must be a significant financial commitment to assist
local governments in meeting the costs of clean and safe water.
WIN is asking Congress to commit
$57 billion over the next five years for investment in drinking
water and wastewater infrastructure. This is half the amount of the
spending shortfall documented by WIN over that period, and if fully
funded, still leaves the federal share of drinking water and
wastewater funding at less than 20 percent of total spending.
# # #
To see the nearly 40 organization that make up WIN, go to
http://www.win-water.org/.
|