Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - NACWA in the News
Group: EPA Cuts Are Big Hit On Wastewater Fund
WASHINGTON — A group representing the nation's municipal
wastewater treatment facilities says proposed Bush administration cuts in the US
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) budget will fall disproportionately on a
revolving loan fund that helps repair and replace aging treatment plants,
according to a press release from the National Association of Clean Water
Agencies (NACWA).
About $200 million of the proposed $300 million cut in EPA's $7.625 billion
overall budget would come from a cut in EPA's Clean Water State Revolving Fund
(CWSRF) program, NACWA said, adding that the program has been the main federal
funding source for clean water infrastructure projects since its creation in
1987.
In a Feb. 6
statement, EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson defended the
president's spending plan, saying the proposed budget "reflects the need for
spending restraint while accelerating environmental protection, maintaining
economic competitiveness and strengthening homeland defenses."
NACWA is calling on Congress and the White House to enact a bill before the
House of Representatives, H.R. 4560, which would create a clean water trust fund
to shore up long-term support for water treatment infrastructure projects.
The current EPA budget proposal "is the wrong measure at the wrong time," NACWA
Executive Director Ken Kirk said in his group's press release, adding it would
hobble communities' efforts to comply with Clean Water Act mandates.