Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
AMSA, Coalition Help Ensure $1.35B for Clean
Water Funding in Senate
Sep 24, 2004 WaterWorld
AMSA, Coalition help ensure $1. 35B for clean water funding in Senate
WASHINGTON, DC, Sept. 22, 2004 -- The Senate Appropriations Committee
unanimously approved the Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban
Development (VA-HUD) and Independent Agencies' appropriations package (S. 1584)
which included full funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF).
The bill funds the CWSRF at the fiscal year 2004 level of $1. 35 billion, which
is considerably higher than the $850 million approved by the House
Appropriations Committee. In July, the House Subcommittee on VA-HUD and
Independent Agencies and the full Appropriations Committee slashed clean water
funding by almost $500 million -- a 37% reduction from last year. Lawmakers in
the House and Senate must now negotiate a mutually acceptable funding level for
the CWSRF.
The Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA) and a broad coalition
of state and local organizations, labor, construction and environmental and
public health groups helped spur the Senate Committee's action, through meetings
with key congressional staff and letter writing campaigns. The coalition also
released a timely report, All Dried Up: How Clean Water Is Threatened by Budget
Cuts (www. amsa-cleanwater. org/pubs/2004-09-15ADU. pdf), which was disseminated
to targeted members of Congress via a press release ( www. amsa-cleanwater.
org/advocacy/releases/091504. cfm) last week. Specifically, the report focuses
on the effects that not restoring full funding would have; including the federal
assistance each state stands to lose, how many jobs would not be created and the
number of water improvement projects held up or scrapped.
William B. Schatz, General Counsel for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer
District and AMSA president stated that without full federal funding
"communities will not be able to tackle the current backlog of capital
replacement projects, to meet mandates associated with controlling wet weather
overflows or to address new pollutants and security issues in the future.
Restoring water funding this year is a crucial step toward addressing a
longer-term solution for our nation's water needs. "
AMSA supports the Senate proposed figure of $1. 35 billion for the CWSRF and
believes it demonstrates a continued federal commitment to clean water in
America. The Association believes, however, that to narrow the water
infrastructure funding shortfall Congress should create a trust fund for clean
water similar to those now used for highways and airports.
AMSA (www. amsa-cleanwater. org) is a national trade association representing
hundreds of the nation's publicly owned wastewater treatment utilities. AMSA
members serve the majority of the sewered population in the United States and
collectively treat and reclaim over 18 billion gallons of wastewater every day.
AMSA members are environmental practitioners dedicated to protecting and
improving the nation's waters and public health.