State Groups Stake Out Positions On Water Infrastructure Financing Authority

With Senate passage last spring of a pilot program for a Water Infrastructure Financing Innovations Authority (WIFIA) and consideration anticipated in the House of Representatives this fall, two state organizations recently released opinions on the issue.

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) approved a policy directive in August urging Congress to protect the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) while it enhances the ability of states to leverage private financing for water infrastructure. If Congress creates a WIFIA, NCSL recommends that the legislation ensure funding is not drawn from the SRFs and that WIFIA funds be made available only to large water and wastewater projects costing $20 million and more. The directive said states should have maximum flexibility in deciding how existing and enhanced funding should be used to address their increasing water infrastructure needs.

Also in August, the State/EPA State Revolving Fund Workgroup, an organization of officials who manage the CWSRF and DWSRF programs around the nation, wrote to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, saying: “Regardless of Congress’s intentions to maintain current SRF funding levels, WIFIA would most likely be funded at the detriment of the SRF programs.” The Workgroup cautioned that transferring funds from the SRFs would negatively affect many small as well as large water systems and their ability to maintain compliance with state and federal regulations.

AMWA is on the record in support of WIFIA. Last spring, the association joined with AWWA in a joint letter to senators urging passage of the program as part of S. 601, the “Water Resources Development Act of 2013” (WRDA). The letter said: “While the state revolving loan fund programs have been and will remain an important tool to help water systems comply with regulations, there is a need for low-cost financing to help communities finance larger water infrastructure repair and replacement projects. The SRF program in most states is unable to fund projects costing more than $20 million, so WIFIA would fill a crucial gap in meeting the nation’s water infrastructure investment needs.”

No WIFIA bill has been introduced in the House, but a version could be introduced in the fall, as a standalone bill or as part of the House version of the WRDA.