Member Pipeline - Fax Alerts - Special Edition - September 30, 2002
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September 30, 2002
EPA Analysis Supports AMSA’s Estimates of Huge Wastewater Needs
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its long-awaited report, The Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis, which documents a startling wastewater infrastructure funding gap as high as $442 billion over the next twenty years. EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman announced the release of the Gap Analysis this morning during her keynote address at WEFTEC 2002 in Chicago, Ill., and discussed the need for further discussions between wastewater and water organizations and EPA officials to develop solutions to the infrastructure funding challenge. EPA’s report is available at http://www.epa.gov/owm/gapreport.pdf and the fact sheet is at http://www.epa.gov/owm/featinfo.htm.The Gap Analysis’ findings bolster AMSA’s ongoing efforts to secure legislation that provides a long-term, sustainable solution to the nation’s wastewater infrastructure funding needs, as well as AMSA’s continued support for the objectives of the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN). To further ensure the success of this critical objective, AMSA recently formed its Wastewater Infrastructure Funding Task Force, which is meeting at WEFTEC in Chicago, and has three key objectives: to explore new financing mechanisms that would increase the federal share of funding for water and wastewater infrastructure projects; to devise a plan to activate a nation-wide grassroots effort by effected parties, including ratepayers; and to enhance current lobbying efforts in Washington, DC and to extend this effort to State capitals and the offices of local elected officials.
EPA’s overall finding that “with the aging of the nation’s infrastructure, the clean water and drinking water industries face a significant challenge to sustain and advance their achievements in protecting public health and the environment” further reinforces the work of AMSA’s Task Force and WIN. The Gap Analysis’ specific funding estimates are also helpful, but demonstrate a broad range for the wastewater infrastructure gap that varies depending on a number of economic indicators and assumptions. The Gap Analysis is also helpful in that it takes into account not only capital needs, but potentially huge operation and maintenance costs for publicly owned treatment works as well. The findings below indicate the high and low ranges of the wastewater infrastructure funding needs contained in the Gap Analysis:
- Where financing costs are included but assuming no revenue growth, the 20 year wastewater infrastructure funding gap balloons to between $192 billion and $442 billion, or $10 billion and $22 billion per year for each of the next twenty years — far higher than any of WIN’s estimates.
- According to the Gap Analysis, in the unlikely event that the economy grows at a rate of three percent above inflation and municipal wastewater expenditures grow at an identical rate, the clean water gap for capital and operation and maintenance will range from $0 to $143 billion, or from $0 to $7 billion per year. (See page 26 of the EPA report).
AMSA will continue to work with EPA officials on the wastewater infrastructure funding issue and will continue to push Congress and the Bush administration to support a long-term sustainable solution to the wastewater infrastructure challenge. For more information contact AMSA’s Director of Legislative Affairs, Lee Garrigan, at 202/833-2672 or by e-mail at lgarrigan@amsa-cleanwater.org.