EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy traveled to Capitol Hill on April 29 to defend the agency’s FY16 budget proposal before the Senate Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, where she pointed to significant drinking water infrastructure needs across the country to justify an increase in the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF).
McCarthy made her comments in response to questioning from Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), who asked why the agency’s budget seeks to increase funding for the DWSRF by $279 million while reducing funding for the Clean Water SRF by $333 million. Overall, the two SRF programs would receive a combined $2.3 billion under the budget plan.
According to Administrator McCarthy, the budget request reflects EPA’s assessment of “where the greatest need is” based on the agency’s most recent data. The agency’s 2013 Drinking Water Needs Survey showed $384 billion worth of drinking water investment needs across the country over the coming 20 years, while the latest Clean Water Needs Survey identified $298.1 billion in wastewater infrastructure needs over the same period.
The country is “facing some significant drinking water challenges today,” McCarthy said, while explaining the agency proposed reallocating some funding among the DW and CWSRFs to help address the most pressing needs.
She went on to say EPA views the new Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) pilot program as an “opportunity” to increase water infrastructure investment that EPA “wants to tee up” in the next fiscal year. Additionally, she pointed to the Water Infrastructure Resiliency Finance Center proposed as part of the Obama Administration’s Build America investment initiative as an effort to focus on “financial planning for future public infrastructure investments and expanded efforts with states to identify financing opportunities for resilient drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure.”
Aside from Senator Reed, several other lawmakers on the panel focused their hearing questions on pending EPA regulations, including the much-discussed “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) draft rule.
Subcommittee Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and several other senators reiterated their concerns about potential consequences of the WOTUS rule. Murkowski said the proposal would lead to many projects requiring additional EPA permits before they move forward, and could represent “a potential showstopper for new development.”
In defense of the proposal, Administrator McCarthy said EPA was forced into action to clarify a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that muddied the scope of the Clean Water Act, and said EPA’s proposed rule would “foster more certain and efficient business decisions to protect the nation’s waters.”