Within weeks of the House of Representatives’ passage of the “Water Resources Reform and Development Act” (WRRDA) in late October House and Senate leaders named their roster of conferees that will work to negotiate a final version of water resources legislation. Among the decisions to be made by the conference committee is whether to include an AMWA-backed “Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act” (WIFIA) pilot program in the final bill.
Conference committee members will be working to rectify the House-approved WRRDA (H.R. 3080) with the “Water Resources Development Act” (WRDA) approved by the Senate in May as S. 601. The Senate bill included a $250 million EPA-run WIFIA pilot program that would make low-interest financing available for major water and wastewater infrastructure projects expected to cost more than $20 million, but corresponding language was left out of the House-passed H.R. 3080.
AMWA and other WIFIA supporters remain engaged with congressional staff to encourage the inclusion of the pilot program within the final bill. These efforts included sending letters to key lawmakers this month to highlight the importance of the proposal and to stress WIFIA’s focus on large-scale water and wastewater projects that are rarely able to access funding through the existing State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs. WIFIA has come under some criticism from state-based groups as a potential threat to long-term SRF funding, but AMWA believes WIFIA would supplement – not replace – the work of the SRFs.
AMWA and others are also working behind the scenes to ask congressional staff to improve several problematic WIFIA provisions that were attached to S. 601, such as a prohibition on the use of municipal bonds to finance projects receiving WIFIA dollars (inserted to make the proposal budget-neutral), and “Buy American” restrictions on the use of foreign iron, steel, and manufactured goods on WIFIA-funded projects. However, the association must walk a fine line to encourage these fixes without prompting conferees to choose to avoid difficulties by dropping WIFIA from the WRDA legislation altogether.
A complete list of WRDA conference committee members is below. AMWA members are encouraged to reach out to their representatives and senators – especially those serving on the conference committee – to express support for WIFIA as soon as possible. AMWA’s Dan Hartnett ([email protected]) will provide a sample WIFIA support letter to interested utility representatives upon request.
WRDA Conference Committee Members:
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Senate Democrats: Environment and Public Works Chairman Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Max Baucus (Mont.), Thomas Carper (Del.), Ben Cardin (Md.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.).
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Senate Republicans: EPW ranking member David Vitter (La.), John Barrasso (Wy.), James Inhofe (Okla).
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House Republicans: Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (Penn.), Bob Gibbs (Ohio), John Duncan (Tenn.), Frank LoBiondo (N.J.), Sam Graves (Mo.), Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Candice Miller (Mich.), Duncan Hunter (Calif.), Larry Bucshon (Ind.), Richard Hanna (N.Y.), Daniel Webster (Fla.), Tom Rice (S.C.), Markwayne Mullin (Okla.), Rodney Davis (Ill.), Doc Hastings (Wash.), Rob Bishop (Utah).
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House Democrats: Transportation and Infrastructure ranking member Nick Rahall (W.Va.), Tim Bishop (N.Y.), Peter DeFazio (Ore.), Corrine Brown (Fla.), Eddie Bernice Johnson (Tex.), Donna Edwards (Md.), John Garamendi (Calif.), Janice Hahn (Calif.), Rick Nolan (Minn.), Lois Frankel (Fla.) Cheri Bustos (Ill.), Grace Napolitano (Calif.).