Water Companies Press Congress For PABs, Greater SRF Access
Citing the trillion-dollar maintenance requirements of the nation’s water and wastewater utilities, privately owned water companies advanced on Capitol Hill in March to appeal to Congress for greater availability of tax-exempt financing. The initiative, organized by the National Association of Water Companies, brought 50 of its members to Washington, D.C. to visit more than 200 congressional offices.
The companies want lawmakers to lift the cap on private activity bonds (PABs), claiming that the private sector could leverage as much as $475 billion to invest in aging pipelines and upgrade overburdened water treatment systems across the country. The group also wants Congress to give private companies access to federal matching loans made available to public systems through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, as they already have through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. The two funds, however, are facing $947 million in cuts in the President’s proposed FY12 budget.