How Funding Will Be Distributed

HOW THE FUNDING WILL BE DISTRIBUTED:

Clean Water Act Funding: Almost half of the money will be distributed through the existing Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund (CWSRF). These funds are grants used to capitalize state funds, which then provide loans to publicly owned treatment works for wastewater treatment construction to meet CWA requirements and provide sewage services. The CWSRF would be modernized along the lines of recent legislation passed by the House.

The Clean Water Act would provide incentives for green infrastructure and water efficiency as well as provide money for state efforts to prevent and control pollution. The bill would also require states to provide some of the funding in the form of grants for new infrastructure. More help will be made available for technical assistance to small wastewater treatment facilities.

Safe Drinking Water Act Funding: More than one-third of the funding will be distributed as loans from the Safe Drinking Water Act State Revolving Loan Fund (DWSRF). Like CWSRF funds, these funds are used by states to provide loans to public water systems to assist in complying with drinking water regulations and to protect public health. Changes will be made to help modernize the DWSRF and provide technical assistance to small communities consistent with the recent authorization passed by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Funds would also be targeted towards larger systems with the worst infrastructure problems. Additional incentives for environmental and fiscal sustainability will be added.

Additional Programs: The remaining funding would support a number of new programs, including:

• Security Upgrades: Grants to states, municipalities, publicly owned treatment works, and community drinking water systems for capital projects to increase security to update a vulnerability assessment, emergency response plan, or site security plan required under the SDWA or any other applicable law. This will help offset the costs of new security requirements currently under consideration in House committees.

• Climate Change and Adaptation: Grants to support efforts by water systems to take actions to increase energy and water efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, an increase resilience to the impacts of climate change.

• Sewer Overflow Control: Funding for an existing program to help states and local communities address sewer overflows This is a growing problem in which untreated sewage is released into the environment, contaminating our nation’s waters, degrading water quality and exposing humans to viruses and other pathogens that can cause serious illness. The EPA estimates that more than 850 billion gallons of untreated wastewater and stormwater are released each year into U.S. waters.

• Research, Development, and Technology Demonstration: A new research program within the EPA to develop, demonstrate, and transfer innovative or improved technologies and methods for the treatment, control, transport, and reuse of drinking water and wastewater. It would also create a new system of regional university research centers, based on the successful transportation research centers, to conduct strategic research, education, and outreach for sustainable management of water resources.

• Workforce Development: Funding for existing programs under the CWA and SDWA to provide support for operator training, undergraduate and graduate environmental engineering and natural sciences to ensure that a stable labor force exists to operate and manage water and wastewater treatment utilities.

• Drug Take-Back: A new competitive grant program to support state, local, tribal, and non-profit drug take-back programs to help reduce the presence of pharmaceuticals in water.

• Cost of Service Study: The National Academy of Sciences would study the means by which public water systems and treatment works meet the costs associated with operations, maintenance, capital replacement, and regulatory requirements. This will help the EPA, Congress, and water facilities determine what new approaches might assist in meeting water needs.