Despite increased annual appropriations in FY10, and an unprecedented $6 billion investment through the Recovery Act, the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Loans continue to operate without having been reauthorized in over 20 years, bringing uncertainty to these successful but undercapitalized programs.
The Senate bill (S. 1005) authorizes $39.191 billion for EPA water infrastructure programs over the next five years, and includes $20 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program, $15 billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Program and $1.85 billion for Sewer Overflow Grants.
The AGC-sponsored WIN Coalition sent a letter to Senate leadership asking for consideration of S. 1005 in the lame duck session of Congress this fall, following the 2010 midterm elections. AGC is hoping for consideration to attempt to break the deadlock on Davis-Bacon provisions based on the passage of H.R. 1262 (the House companion to S. 1005) last year and the overwhelming bipartisan support for the program demonstrated bypassage of H.R. 5320 (the AQUA Act) by voice vote at the end of July. AGC and its WIN Coalition partners hope that this recent vote of confidence in the SRF programs has set the stage for action on the bill after the elections.
AGC will continue to monitor action on the bill and push for its consideration by the full Senate. For a copy of the letter sent by the WIN Coalition, click here.
For more information, contact Scott Berry at (703) 837-5321 or berrys@agc.org.
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