News

FY2012 Funding for State Revolving Funds Finalized

A last minute legislative compromise to avert a government shutdown saw Democrats and Republicans come together on the nine outstanding appropriations bills. Among them is the Interior/Environment appropriations bill, which contains the funding for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) State Revolving Loan Funds (SRFs). The compromise would fund the Clean Water SRF at $1.469 billion, down from $1.525 billion in FY 2011. The bill also funds the Drinking Water SRF at $919 million, down from $965 million in FY 2011. This represents total cuts to the SRFs of slightly more than $100 million. While these cuts are certainly disappointing, they remain in stark contrast to the earlier version of the numbers the House was considering. As AGC previously reported, the House’s original funding numbers represented a cut to the SRFs of $967 million. These cuts, and the variance in funding numbers, are further evidence of the necessity for a stable long-term funding mechanism for water infrastructure to ensure certainty and predictability for municipalities and their contractor partners. For more information, contact Scott Berry at (703) 837-5321 or berrys@agc.org.