Acting one day after the House appropriations panel approved its FY17 Interior and Environment spending bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed its own version of the legislation on June 16. Like the House version, the Senate measure would boost funding for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) and the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) pilot program. But the Senate bill is more generous to the Clean Water SRF than the legislation approved by the House panel.
The FY17 Interior and Environment spending bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee includes $8.1 billion for overall EPA funding, slightly below its current funding level. The bill would provide the DWSRF with the full $1.02 billion requested by President Obama, while providing WIFIA with $25 million for loan subsidies and an additional $5 million for program administration. The CWSRF would receive $1.35 billion – about $44 million below its current level but $350 million above the House’s proposal and $370.5 million above President Obama’s request.
The Senate’s bill would allow a state to use a portion of its DWSRF allotment to reimburse a community for debt previously incurred to improve water infrastructure – but only if that community is subject to a state or federal emergency declaration related to a public health threat due to lead in drinking water. This provision differs from corresponding language in the House bill, which would require the funding to go specifically toward projects in the community that address public health threats related to lead in drinking water.
Like the House bill, the Senate version would also ban EPA from implementing its controversial Clean Water Rule – a provision that has spurred Democratic opposition to the legislation and which could draw a veto threat from President Obama.