Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - NACWA in the News
House One Step Closer to Boosting Wastewater Loan Funding
Lucy Kafanov, E&E Daily reporter
A popular federal low-interest wastewater loan program facing severe cuts in the White House fiscal 2008 budget could see a $20 billion boost over the next five years based on legislation that sailed through the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee yesterday.
The "Water Quality Financing Act," or H.R. 720, now goes before the full House, where it is expected to pass.
The bill seeks to reauthorize the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund at $20 billion over fiscal 2008 to fiscal 2012 and would help close the existing gap between wastewater infrastructure needs and current spending levels, according to its advocates.
The fund has suffered serious budget cuts over the years and
faces a nearly $400 million cut in President Bush's fiscal 2008 request -- the
largest cut in the U.S. EPA budget. The agency predicts it will take more than
$380 billion to meet the nation's wastewater needs over the next two decades,
while the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the clean water
SRF's annual funding gap ranges anywhere from $3.2 billion to $11.1 billion.
The National Association of Clean Water Agencies lauded the bill's passage,
saying it strongly supports provisions calling for a six-month study on
potential funding mechanisms and resources available to establish a clean water
trust fund. But in a release, the group warned that passing the bill is "only
the first step" and that Congress must "act to translate this authorization into
real dollars, and NACWA stands ready to assist in this effort."
While the bill passed the committee by an overwhelming majority, lawmakers clashed over a provision that would renew Davis-Bacon prevailing wage protections for construction projects funded under the clean water SRF.
Water Resources Subcommittee ranking member Richard Baker
(R-La.) and Rep. Thelma Drake (R-Va.) offered an amendment to strip the
Davis-Bacon language, arguing that imposing the prevailing wage would make
projects more expensive and cut down on the number of projects built.
Baker called the provision a "hidden tax" imposed on rate and tax payers that
"increases capital costs all for questionable benefit."
The amendment was defeated by a voice vote.
Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) offered another failed amendment that would have tasked the Government Accountability Office with studying the effects of Davis-Bacon requirements on SRF projects.
Republican staff said that requiring Davis-Bacon can add up almost 40 percent to the cost of project construction and that repealing it could save the government $1 billion in construction and $100 million in administrative costs annually.
But the Davis-Bacon provision received a pledge of support from former T&I Committee chairman, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), who argued it helps communities gain better quality infrastructure over the long run and keep infrastructure jobs from going overseas.
"I know the intent, I know people are saying you get [labor] cheaper," Young said. "Yes, you might get it cheaper temporarily, but in the long run your community will be hurt. Your community will not have a facility built to our standards."
But keeping Davis-Bacon could mean a holdup in the Senate, according to Rep. John Duncan (R-Tenn.). The congressman added that he knows of some senators who will place a hold on the bill, but did not elaborate when pressed for further details.
Bills to address sewer overflow, alternative water source projects
Also passing the committee was H.R. 569, the "Water Quality Investment Act of 2007," which would authorize $3 billion over six years for sewer overflow grants nationwide.
In fiscal 2008, the bill authorizes the federal government to dole out grants to municipalities on a competitive basis to control combined and sanitary sewer overflows. Afterwards, grants would be given out via a funding formula that allocates cash for each state, which in turn provides grants to municipalities.
The T&I panel also passed H.R. 700, the first piece of legislation offered by Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.), who unseated Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) in November. The "Healthy Communities Water Supply Act" seeks to boost investment in alternative water supplies through reclamation, reuse and conservation.
A bill to limit pollution caused by commercial ships, H.R. 802, also coasted through the markup. The legislation limits ships' emissions of nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and ozone-depleting chemicals, bringing the United States in agreement with the international shipping treaty MARPOL Annex VI, to which the Senate acceded in March of last year. The treaty took effect May 19.
The bill's cosponsor, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), noted that
95 percent of all goods entering the United States come by ship.
"To combat global warming, we as a nation must address all possible sources of
air pollution and determine what can be done to decrease the emissions that
contribute to this dangerous elevation of the earth's temperature," Cummings
said.
The committee also passed an amendment that, among other things, states that only the U.S. government can issue air quality certification for U.S. vessels.