Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced the “Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2013,” better known as “WIFIA,” as S. 335 on February 14. The bill is virtually identical to the WIFIA legislation Merkley sponsored (and AMWA supported) last year, except that the new version clarifies that tribal communities are eligible to apply for WIFIA loans.
Sen. Merkley will be discussing the bill at AMWA’s 2013 Water Policy Conference, March 17-20 in Washington, D.C.
Under S. 335, EPA would operate the WIFIA program independent of the existing Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs). While the agency would continue to distribute SRF funds to states as it does today, EPA would separately offer low-interest loans to “regionally significant” water infrastructure projects following a nationwide competitive application process. The proposal broadly offers eligibility to any project to “construct, replace, or rehabilitate” a water or wastewater system, but the minimum WIFIA loan would be $20 million in order to focus the program on large-scale projects. The bill also would encourage – but not require – communities to consider using green infrastructure approaches where possible.
Like his earlier bill, S. 335 would require projects receiving WIFIA funds to abide by Davis-Bacon wage rates and follow “Buy American” rules for iron, steel and manufactured products used in the projects’ construction. Merkley’s staff has said that those provisions are high priorities of the senator.
As a next step, Sen. Merkley is expected to work with Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to incorporate WIFIA into a larger water infrastructure bill she hopes to move through the committee this year. Work on that larger bill could begin within the next few months.