WEF members and the general public are powerful partners in our efforts to ensure Washington lawmakers understand the critical clean water issues confronting communities all across America.

Action Alert

January 12, 2007

Please call or write your Senators, Representative, and Governor to urge them to support Congressional action to reauthorize the Clean Water State Revolving Fund

The incoming Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Congressman James Oberstar (D-MN) is making reauthorization of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) a top legislative priority during the 110th Congress.  Authorization for the clean water state revolving fund expired in 1994. Since then, Congress has been unable to enact any legislation affecting the partly because of disputes over prevailing wage requirements.  Funding for the program has steadily declined during the Bush Administration, which would prefer to see federal contributions to the fund end and have the fund rely on self-sustaining revolving funds from loan repayments.  Congress appropriated $887.5 million in fiscal 2006 for the clean water state revolving fund, and the administration requested $687.6 million in fiscal 2007.  

The WEF Position Statement, Sustainable Infrastructure for Clean and Safe Water, supports reauthorization of the Clean Water SRF and a significant increase in federal funding as part of a multi-faceted approach to the challenge of maintaining our vital water infrastructure.  This Position Statement is posted on the web at:  http://www.wef.org/GovernmentAffairs/PolicyPositionStatements/Sustainable_Infrastructure.htm

Member Associations and individual WEF members are asked to contact their Members of Congress to urge them to support efforts in both the House and Senate to reauthorize the CWSRF program.  Contacts with Governors are also needed to urge them to let their Congressional Delegation know how important it is to maintain federal support for water infrastructure.

Background:
Legislative efforts to reauthorize the CWSRF will begin next week when the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment will hold a hearing on reauthorization legislation.  Following this hearing, legislation is expected to be introduced and passed by the full committee relatively soon. If the House is able to pass legislation, it will then go to the Senate for action by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. WEF will continue tracking the progress of these efforts throughout the session.

WEF members are asked to contact Members of Congress by either calling or writing Members’ local or Washington, D.C. offices to urge them to support efforts in both the House and Senate to reauthorize the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program. 

Here are some points to make when you call your Senators and Representatives:

1. One of the most critical issues facing Americans is how to improve and maintain our water infrastructure to ensure that we fully enjoy the health, economic and social benefits that clean and safe water provide.

2. Infrastructure problems associated with aging pipes, out-dated systems, and inadequate capacity to meet growing population demands are requiring many communities to make huge investments in upgrades to their water and wastewater infrastructure systems.

3. According to EPA’s 1998 Water Quality Inventory Report to Congress, 44% of assessed estuaries and 35% of assessed rivers and streams have impaired water quality due to a variety of sources, including inadequately treated wastewater.

4. If this challenge is not met, EPA estimates that by 2016 water pollution levels could be similar to levels observed in the mid-1970s.
 
5. When the Clean Water Act was passed more than 30 years ago, the federal government made a commitment to partner with state and local government to clean up the nation’s waters.

6. The EPA’s 2003 Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis projects a $271 billion gap over the next twenty years between current spending and projected needs for clean water infrastructure if the federal investment remains level; however, the federal investment has not remained level, it has sustained dramatic cuts.

7. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nearly $20 billion is needed annually to protect clean water.

8. Reauthorization of the CWSRF in the 110th Congress will send a strong message about the importance of continued federal investment in water infrastructure.

Please call or write your Senators, Representative, and Governor and urge them to support passage of Clean Water State Revolving Fund Reauthorization.  Send copies of any letters to WEF.  Go to www.house.gov or www.senate.gov for a directory and contact information for your Congressional Representative.

Please circulate this Alert to other WEF members.   If you have questions, please contact Tim Williams, WEF Managing Director, Government Affairs at twilliams@wef.org.