Members of a House-Senate conference committee tasked with negotiating a final “Water Resources Development Act” (WRDA) formally met for the first time last week and set an ambitious goal of producing a bill before Congress departs Washington for the December holidays.
Speaking to reporters before the meeting, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Penn.) said the panel will “work hard” to get a bill done before the House adjourns for the year – currently scheduled for December 13. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) reiterated this goal during her remarks opening the conference, saying she was “very optimistic” lawmakers will “come to an agreement and send this bill to the President’s desk.”
The respective House and Senate-approved versions of WRDA contain many similarities, which should ease the task of conference committee members reaching a compromise. One area of difference, however, is the Senate’s inclusion of a “Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act” (WIFIA) that would help communities access low-cost financing for large-scale water and wastewater infrastructure projects. AMWA supports the WIFIA proposal but is also asking conferees to make several important fixes, such as removing a 49 percent cap on the portion of project costs that may be financed by a WIFIA loan, as well as a provision that would bar the use of tax-exempt debt to cover any remaining project costs.
In what could be a positive sign, Senator Boxer specifically highlighted WIFIA during her opening statement, discussing how it is modeled after the successful TIFIA program for major transportation projects. She did not reference the 49 percent cap/tax-exempt debt issue, but members of her staff recently told AMWA they are still working toward a fix.
AMWA and other WIFIA supporters are reaching out to all members of the conference committee to build additional support for WIFIA and address the remaining financing issue. AMWA utilities are strongly encouraged to weigh in with their own members of Congress on these topics in the coming days and may wish to use the two-page summary of the issue prepared by AMWA, AWWA and WEF as a guide.