Congress should take advantage of the elevated national focus on water infrastructure this year to increase funding for federal water infrastructure programs, AMWA and other water sector organizations wrote to congressional appropriators in a pair of letters on March 8.
The request came in letters sent to the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees as lawmakers begin preparations to write FY17 funding legislation for EPA and other federal departments and agencies. The letters cited the hundreds of billions of dollars worth of water infrastructure investment needs identified by EPA over the coming decades and called for “strong funding for programs that help provide clean and safe water infrastructure while making local utility investments more manageable for ratepayers.”
AMWA and nine other water sector and municipal organizations signed the letters. Key recommendations in the letters included:
- Applauding a request by a group of House Democrats to deliver a total of $4 billion to the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) next year;
- Endorsing funding parity between the Drinking Water and Clean Water SRFs, even if their final FY17 appropriations fall short of the $4 billion figure;
- Fully funding the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) pilot program at its $35 million authorization; and
- Providing $23.365 million for the Bureau of Reclamation’s Title XVI program.
The FY17 budget request President Obama released in February proposed a $157 million increase to DWSRF funding next year, though it also sought a $414 million cut to the CWSRF that would result in a net reduction of $257 million in SRF funding. The President also requested funding to provide WIFIA loans for the first time, though the $20 million proposed in his budget falls well short of the program’s $35 million FY17 authorization level.
The House and Senate Appropriations Committees are expected to begin writing the FY17 spending bills this spring.