A Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) bill scheduled for consideration by the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee on April 28 includes a drinking water and wastewater infrastructure title that would reform a wide range of funding and oversight programs in the aftermath of the Flint, Michigan water crisis. The bill also includes emergency funding to help Flint replace lead-tainted pipes and plumbing components while also authorizing a new program to help communities nationwide pay for the replacement of lead service lines.
Introduced on April 25 by EPW Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and ranking Democrat Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) as the “Water Resources Development Act of 2016” (S. 2848), the main purpose of the bill 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 also making several relatively modest reforms to Corps’ policies and programs. But with Congress yet to approve legislation in response to the Flint water crisis, Senators Inhofe and Boxer earlier this month announced plans to use the WRDA legislation to advance other proposals to shore up the nation’s drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.
The resulting 271-page bill includes a title focused on water infrastructure that reflects numerous proposals that have previously been offered by both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. The EPW Committee provided a detailed summary of the bill, but some notable provisions of interest to the drinking water community relating to the State Revolving Fund (SRF) program include:
- Section 7002, which expresses a “sense of the Senate that Congress should provide robust funding” for the Drinking Water and Clean Water SRFs. However, the bill as introduced would not reauthorize funding for the SRF programs.
- Section 7101, which would codify planning, design, preconstruction activities, and water system security upgrades as costs eligible to be covered by DWSRF loans.
- Section 7102, which would require states to give priority to DWSRF projects that would increase the sustainability of a water system. The section would also require states to give greater weight to DWSRF applications that include asset management plans and a review of utility restructuring options.
- Section 7309, which would allow states to offer additional subsidization to DWSRF projects that incorporate innovative water technologies.
The bill includes several provisions to increase public knowledge about lead in drinking water, and to help Flint and other communities replace lead service lines:
- Section 7107 would authorize $300 million over five years for a new grant program to help communities and low-income households offset costs associated with replacing lead service lines and interior plumbing components. The section is nearly identical to a bill offered in February by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and endorsed by AMWA. Grant funds could not be used on partial lead service line replacements, but communities would be able to use grant funding to replace the municipal and homeowner-owned portions of a lead service line (as well as interior plumbing with lead components), provided that the homeowner meets the community’s definition of “low-income.” Priority for grants would be given to communities otherwise unable to pay for lead service line replacements and which have exceeded EPA’s action level for lead within the previous three years.
- Section 7109 mirrors language included in an earlier Senate proposal (S. 2579) to require utilities to notify the public of a lead action level exceedance within 15 days. EPA would be required to deliver this notice to the public if the utility fails to do so by the deadline.
- Section 7111 would authorize $100 million over five years for grants to help schools and child care centers voluntarily test their water for lead contamination, in accordance with EPA’s “3Ts for Reducing Lead in Drinking Water” technical guidance. The section closely reflects a proposal offered earlier in April as S. 2830 by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). The provision does not make a state’s receipt of DWSRF funding contingent upon establishment of a school lead testing program, as another bill offered by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) would have done.
- Section 7401 reflects a bipartisan deal reached in the Senate earlier this year that would deliver emergency aid to help Flint recover from its water crisis, while also offering additional water infrastructure funding to communities nationwide through WIFIA. The provision includes $100 million in DWSRF assistance targeted for lead removal projects in Flint, and an additional $70 million for WIFIA credit subsidies (expected to support at least $700 million worth of loans) to help communities across the country address lead in drinking water or carry out any other project otherwise eligible for WIFIA assistance.
Finally, the bill proposes to make a series of small changes to existing water infrastructure programs while also creating several new ones:
- Section 7112 would formally authorize EPA’s WaterSense program.
- Section 7302 would make several minor tweaks to the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) pilot program, such as clarifying the eligibility of desalination and alternative water supply projects and allowing small communities to finance fees associated with WIFIA applications. The section would also make WIFIA permanent (dropping its designation as a “pilot” program), but would not authorize additional funding for WIFIA beyond 2019 when the program’s current authorization is scheduled to expire.
- Section 7303 would establish a Water Infrastructure Investment Trust Fund. Similar to a proposal offered in the House by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) as H.R. 4468, and recently endorsed by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), the fund’s coffers would be filled through a voluntary 3-cents-per-unit fee that manufacturers could choose to place on the packages of consumer products. Eighty-five percent of Trust Fund proceeds would be funneled into the CWSRF, with the remaining fifteen percent devoted to the DWSRF.
- Section 7304 would create an Innovative Water Technology Grant Program to offer funds to public utilities and other applicants to develop and test emerging water technologies.
In a statement, Sen. Inhofe said the bill will “address our nation’s aging drinking water and wastewater infrastructure by supporting federal programs that encourage local and private investment, and reform existing authorities to allow states to partner with the federal government when necessary to help disadvantaged or high-risk communities address their water resource needs.” He had earlier said that the bill could go to the Senate floor before July 4.