The U.S. House of Representatives’ Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chair Peter DeFazio, Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chair Grace Napolitano, and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick introduced the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021.
According to the press release, this legislation will reauthorize the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) for the first time in over 30 years, and will also:
- Reauthorize the CWSRF at $40 billion over five years
- Reauthorize Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants at $2 billion over five years
- Reauthorize the Watershed Pilot Project Program at $1 billion over five years
- Authorize $1 billion in grants over five years for treatment of emerging contaminants
- Reauthorize State Management Assistance for water pollution control programs at $2.5 billion over five years
- Reauthorize the Alternative Water Source Projects Program at $1 billion over five years
“For too long, the costs of clean water have fallen overwhelmingly to local customers and communities as federal investment in water declined,” said Chief Executive Officer of NACWA Adam Krantz in a statement. “The Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021 takes critical steps to increase the federal cost share in clean water, reauthorizing the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and–critically for communities facing economic hardships–providing grant programs to help support costly challenges including investment in wet weather management and resilience.”
In the press release, NACWA extended a special thanks to Committee Chair DeFazio and Subcommittee Chair Napolitano for their continued efforts in Congress to secure funding to support the provision of public clean water services.
