Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
Wednesday, May 7, 2003
House Passes Bill to Help Wastewater Plants Thwart Terrorist Attacks
WASHINGTON (AP) - The House passed a bill Wednesday that would authorize $200 million in grants for wastewater treatment plants to improve security against terrorist attacks.
The bill, which passed by a 413-2 vote, would make the money
available for water treatment plants to assess their vulnerabilities and
adjust security if needed. The nation's 16,000 publicly owned wastewater
treatment plants would be eligible to apply for the grants.
The bill also authorizes $15 million to help small publicly owned
water treatment plants pay for technical assistance.
Congress still would have to appropriate funds authorized under the
bill.
Republicans Jeff Flake of Arizona and Ron Paul of Texas voted against
the bill, sponsored by House Transportation Committee Chairman Don
Young, R-Alaska, and Rep. James Oberstar of Minnesota, the committee's
senior Democrat.
A similar bill passed the House last year but died awaiting Senate
action.
The Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies, a trade group
representing nearly 300 of the nation's public wastewater utilities,
said it welcomed passage and was hopeful a companion bill would be
introduced soon in the Senate by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who chairs
the Environment and Public Works Committee.
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Text can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov