A pair of New York lawmakers this month introduced legislation to create a new $5 billion grant program to benefit drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects, but the measure seems unlikely to gain traction in the absence of a broader infrastructure bill.
Sponsored by Democrats Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Antonio Delgado, the Promoting Infrastructure and Protecting the Economy (PIPE) Act (S. 1837/H.R. 3254) would authorize $5 billion over ten years for a new EPA grant program that would offer discretionary grants to state and local governments to put toward the improvement of drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.
A statement from Sen. Gillibrand said the measure would:
- Allow state, local, and tribal governments and public water utilities to apply for grants;
- Allow multiple projects to be bundled into one grant application;
- Limit each state to receiving no more than 20% of available grant funding in each fiscal year; and
- Require projects to comply with Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates and “Buy America” requirements.
The PIPE Act is the latest in what has been a series of high-cost infrastructure spending proposals to be offered by Democrats this year. But given the lack of momentum for a broad infrastructure package on Capitol Hill, the bill does not appear to have a realistic path forward in the foreseeable future.