On June 27th, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved HR 3906, the Innovative Stormwater Infrastructure Act of 2017.
This is legislative language that WEF and the National Municipal Stormwater Association (NMSA) initially proposed, and WEF put out a statement on the language passing out of Committee that begins: “The Water Environment Federation (WEF) is very supportive of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee passing legislation to establish a stormwater infrastructure funding task force, in the nature of a substitute amendment to H.R. 3906, the Innovative Stormwater Infrastructure Act of 2017. Communities and utilities across the nation have tremendous stormwater infrastructure construction needs, but limited financial resources. WEF and the National Municipal Stormwater Association (NMSA) initially proposed the establishment of a task force of federal, state, local, and nonprofit stakeholder organizations to identify strategies for funding stormwater infrastructure needs, so we are very pleased to see the Committee moving forward with this legislation. We also would like to thank Rep. Denny Heck (D-Wash.) and all the co-sponsors of the original version of H.R. 3906 and the substitute amendment for their leadership in Congress in advancing policies to address stormwater infrastructure challenges.”
This legislation would create a task force would look for ways to fund our nation’s stormwater infrastructure needs—something WEF and others in the water sector know is a must.
While the House Water Resources Development Act of 2018, HR 8, which passed earlier this summer, was a “clean” bill with only Corps provisions, the Senate WRDA bill includes the stormwater funding task force language – companion language to what is in HR 3906. The Senate is expected to consider their WRDA bill on the Senate floor in the coming weeks, and once it’s passed, the House and Senate will meet in conference committee to negotiate the final legislation.
