Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
Water Infrastructure Woes: Drowning in Red Ink
By Angela Neville, JD, REM
The fluid most on the minds of stakeholders currently dealing with the future of the U.S. water infrastructure appears to be not water, but rather, red ink.
In September 2002, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a
report entitled "The Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap
Analysis," in which it estimated the funding gap over the next 20 years would be
a staggering $535 billion. This amount is the agency's estimate of what it would
cost over the next two decades for upgrades and operation and maintenance of
wastewater and drinking water treatment systems. Congress typically appropriates
about $2.1 billion annually for wastewater and drinking water state revolving
funds (SRFs) that are used to pay for infrastructure improvements and other
programs. These SRFs also emphasize providing funds to small and disadvantaged
communities. EPA's report is available at www.epa.gov/ow.
In January 2003, EPA held a forum aimed at discussing options that could be used
to close the funding gap without requiring a large funding increase from the
federal government. Rate increases, more efficient water use, better asset
management, focusing more on the watershed approach and exploring the
possibility of privatizing some areas of operations were suggested as possible
solutions. The question of privatization can be a sensitive topic, however,
especially to representatives of public utilities who argue that unless it is
done carefully, the outcome would be higher rates and less accountability with
no guarantee of improvement in service or efficiency. On the flip side,
representatives of privately owned utilities emphasize that they are able to
conduct a more efficient operation than public utilities, which ultimately can
mean lower costs and more opportunities for innovations.
Critical of the EPA report, the Association of the Metropolitan Sewerage
Agencies (AMSA) responded in July 2003 by issuing a white paper, "EPA's
Solutions Leave Large Wastewater Funding Gap." AMSA takes exception to EPA's
position that the solution to the clean water and drinking water
infrastructure-funding gap rests solely on local government. AMSA's position is
that other critical U.S. infrastructure sectors, such as highways and airports,
receive the benefits of dedicated federal trust funds and it is time for the
nation's water to receive equal treatment. The AMSA white paper's conclusion is
that while municipalities must continue to do their part concerning water
infrastructure funding, so too must the states and the federal government by
implementing a long-term sustainable financing program to invest in the U.S.
clean water and drinking water infrastructure. To view the white paper, go to
www.amsa-cleanwater.org/temp/2003-06fgap.pdf.
Two bills concerning water infrastructure funding currently are under
consideration in Congress. In January, Reps. Sue Kelly (R-NY) and Ellen Tauscher
(D-Calif.) introduced The Clean Water Infrastructure Financing Act of 2003 (H.R.
20). It would provide grants to financially distressed communities to pay 25
percent of the costs of projects on states' priority lists that exceed $1.4
billion. At press time, the bill had been referred to the House Subcommittee on
Water Resources and Environment.
The other piece of legislation under consideration now is S. 170, which was
introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio). The bill would
authorize $15 billion over five years for the clean water state revolving fund.
At press time, the bill had been referred to the Senate Committee on Environment
and Public Works.
On July 25, the full House of Representatives passed the appropriations bill
(H.R. 2861) that includes funding for EPA for FY 2004 at a total level of $8
billion. This amount is $375 million above the President's request and $74
million below FY 2003. As part of the total appropriation to EPA, $1.2 billion
is authorized for the clean water revolving fund for FY 2004. The $1.2 billion
authorization is a $350 million increase from EPA's FY 2004 request, but that
amount still falls $150 million below the FY 2003 amount of $1.35 billion that
was approved by Congress last year. The House agreed to maintain the FY 2004
funding for the drinking water state revolving fund at $850 million, the same
level as FY 2003. Now the bill will move to the House and Senate Conference
Committee where the committee members will attempt to resolve the differences
between the House and Senate versions so that a final bill can be passed to the
President seeking his approval.
To learn more about H.R. 20, S. 170 or H.R. 2861, visit the Library of Congress'
legislative information Web site at thomas.loc.gov.
Clean water is of paramount importance to this nation -- both to the continued
well-being of our citizens and our economy -- and should be funded accordingly.
Congress needs to demonstrate leadership this session by increasing the budget
allocation for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure funding to prevent a
future crisis involving clean water shortages.
This editorial originally appeared in the September 2003 issue of Environmental
Protection, Vol. 14, No. 7.