AMWA joined a group of water and wastewater utility organizations last month in writing EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy to request full funding for the new “Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act” (WIFIA) pilot program in EPA’s fiscal year 2016 budget proposal.
In a letter to Administrator McCarthy, AMWA joined the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the Water Environment Federation (WEF), and the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) in reiterating that WIFIA is designed to supplement – not replace – funding for the existing Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund programs, and explained how WIFIA “will extend low-cost financing opportunities to more communities, and … facilitate federal support for a variety of water infrastructure projects” across the country.
Congress authorized WIFIA to receive up to $25 million in federal appropriations in the 2016 fiscal year, an amount that it is estimated could be leveraged into at least $250 million worth of loans to local communities. It is not known how much money Congress will be willing to devote to WIFIA next year, but a request for funding from EPA would mark a strong vote of confidence in the new program.
AMWA and the other water sector groups also sent a letter on water infrastructure funding priorities to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which is charged with developing the Obama Administration’s entire budget plan. In addition to requesting the full WIFIA appropriation, the groups asked the administration to maintain current funding levels for the Drinking Water and Clean Water SRFs, and to exclude policy proposals from the budget that would reduce federal tax incentives offered to the holders of municipal bonds.
A temporary government spending measure is scheduled to expire on December 11, but the path forward on appropriations after that date became fuzzier in mid-November when some congressional Republicans suggested forcing a budget showdown with President Obama in protest of the president’s plan to take executive action on immigration policy. Previously, Congress had been widely expected to approve a spending plan covering the remainder of the 2015 fiscal year well before the December 11 deadline.