A Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) bill approved by a Senate panel on April 28 includes several new funding and oversight programs in response to the Flint, Michigan water crisis. The bill offers emergency funding to help Flint replace lead pipes and plumbing components while also authorizing a new program to help communities nationwide pay for the replacement of lead service lines. Meanwhile, on May 25 the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved its own WRDA proposal that takes a much narrower approach.
Approved by the Environment and Public Works Committee by a 19-1 vote, the main purpose of the 271-page bill (S. 2848) is to authorize the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction on a variety of public works, navigation, and environmental restoration projects while making several relatively modest reforms to Corps’ policies and programs. Committee leaders had earlier pledged to use the bill to advance several other proposals to shore up the nation’s drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, and followed through by adding a water infrastructure title largely made up of proposals that were first offered on Capitol Hill in response to the Flint water crisis.
Notable lead-related provisions in the bill include a $300 million grant program to help communities and low-income homeowners replace lead service lines and a $100 million program to help schools test their water for lead contamination. The bill would deliver $100 million in Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) assistance targeted to Flint, as well as $70 million in credit subsidies that could be used to originate loans under the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA). Lawmakers expect this to translate into at least $700 million worth of WIFIA loans, which could be used on lead abatement projects in Flint or any other water infrastructure project otherwise eligible for WIFIA funding.
Other sections of the bill would establish a water trust fund through the collection of voluntary fees paid by manufacturers, codify water facility security enhancements as an eligible use of DWSRF loan funding, and formally authorize EPAs WaterSense program. The bill would further require EPA to update its Financial Capability Assessment Framework guidance after factoring in new affordability considerations, and inform communities of the option to develop integrated plans for compliance with clean water rules. AMWA’s April 2016 Congressional Report highlighted several other provisions of interest to the drinking water community, and a bill summary from the EPW Committee provides additional details about the legislation.
EPW Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and ranking Democrat Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) released a statement praising the bill following the markup, and congressional staff have indicated the bill could go to the Senate floor before mid-July. AMWA also sent the committee a letter on the bill, saying the measure “represents meaningful progress toward improving our water infrastructure.”
Meanwhile, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved its own, much narrower WRDA proposal on May 25. The House bill (H.R. 5303) excludes new funding investments in lead remediation or drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. Instead the bill focuses on authorizing 28 Army Corps of Engineers projects, including feasibility studies for new projects and modifications to existing projects, and reflects Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster’s (R-Penn.) desire to draft a targeted, “back to basics” WRDA bill. However, congressional staff have indicated that Chairman Shuster may be receptive to including some drinking water infrastructure and lead response provisions in the final WRDA bill that will be hashed out by House and Senate negotiators later this year.