Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
Sewer Agencies' Poll Finds Public Support
For Trust Fund to Bridge Infrastructure Gap
The majority of Americans would support the creation of a trust fund to help
meet water and wastewater infrastructure needs, according to a survey released
by municipal sewage treatment officials Feb. 9.
The nationwide survey was conducted by pollster Frank Luntz for the Association
of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies.
Among the findings are that 90 percent of Americans support a dedicated funding
source to pay for water and wastewater infrastructure needs. Eighty percent of
the respondents said they would support legislation to create "a national
long-term sustainable funding source for clean water," according to the survey
of 800 registered voters.
AMSA and other municipal utility groups have been pushing for Congress to boost
spending on infrastructure needs to cover a gap that various groups estimate
range from about $300 billion to $1 trillion over 20 years. Congress has
appropriated about $2.1 billion annually for both the clean water and drinking
water state revolving loans funds for the past several years.
The Bush administration has sought about $500 million less every year, and
Congress has restored the cuts in what has become an annual appropriations
ritual. In addition, Congress usually adds close to another $500 million on top
of the restored funding to pay for special projects, most of them dealing with
water and wastewater infrastructure.
Despite these funding levels, water and wastewater groups, EPA, the
Congressional Budget Office, and the General Accounting Office generally agree
that a significant funding gap exists.
The utility associations advocate a trust fund, similar to those established to
pay for highways and airport improvements, to cover the massive water and
wastewater infrastructure costs.
"Despite the much publicized expanding federal deficit, an overwhelming majority
of Americans (83 percent) would support legislation in the U.S. Congress that
would create a long-term, sustainable and reliable trust fund for clean water
infrastructure," Luntz wrote in a memo summarizing the polling results. "An
overwhelming majority of Americans, 91 percent, agree that 'if, as a country, we
are willing to invest billions of dollars annually in highways and airways, we
certainly should be willing to make the necessary investments in our nation's
waterways.' "
Although no legislation establishing a trust fund has been introduced and may
not be introduced this year, AMSA officials said they hope to see a bill in the
next Congress.
An infrastructure trust fund is one area where wastewater treatment officials
and environmental advocates agree. The Natural Resources Defense Council plans
to push for such legislation.
Luntz said support for the trust fund is somewhat conditional. In other words,
people would be willing to pay for it if they money actually went for water, not
bureaucracy, he said. If people think the trust fund is another "boondoggle,"
their support decreases markedly, he said.
In addition to the polling, Luntz conducted surveys in several cities and found
that participants agree "water has no local boundaries" and that solutions to
water quality problems require a national response.
"For the most part, environmental issues are seen as local or state challenges,"
Luntz said. "Not here. Americans believe the standards and funding should be
national, but ultimate control must be local."
By Susan Bruninga