Elena H. Humphreys and Jonathan L. Ramseur: CRS two-pager (11 January 2021) on: 'U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Water Infrastructure Programs and FY2021 Appropriations'.
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Introduction
The condition of the nation’s drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, the federal role in supporting infrastructure improvements, and the financial challenges many communities encounter regarding water infrastructure are perennial subjects of debate and attention in Congress. Such challenges include the ability of communities—especially low-income communities—to finance projects needed to (1) repair or replace water infrastructure, much of which was constructed more than 50 years ago; (2) comply with new or revised federal regulatory requirements; and (3) address damage from or improve resilience to extreme weather events and other natural hazards.EPA Water Infrastructure Programs FY2021 Appropriations
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260), Division G, Title II, contains appropriations for multiple water infrastructure programs administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF). The act also includes appropriations for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan program, two regional infrastructure grant programs, four drinking water infrastructure grant programs, and one wastewater infrastructure grant program. Appropriations for the CWSRF, DWSRF, and other grant programs are provided within the State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG) account. A separate account funds WIFIA.As presented in Table 1, the act appropriates a total of $3.01 billion for FY2021 for these water infrastructure programs, $33.5 million (1%) more than the total FY2020 enacted level prior to rescissions (P.L. 116-94). Also for FY2020, P.L. 116-113, Title IX, included a supplemental appropriation of $300 million for wastewater projects at the U.S.-Mexico border.
State Revolving Fund Programs
The Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) authorize complementary financial assistance programs to help publicly owned treatment works and public water systems finance improvements needed for compliance and other statutory purposes. The Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) provides financial assistance for infrastructure projects to publicly owned treatment works and other eligible recipients (33 U.S.C. §§1381-1387). The Drinking Water SRF provides assistance to public water systems, which may be publicly or privately owned (42 U.S.C. §300j-12). In both SRF programs, EPA makes grants to states to capitalize a state revolving loan fund. Each state must match 20% of its annual capitalization grant. States are authorized to use the DWSRF or the CWSRF to provide primarily subsidized loans to eligible public water systems or publicly owned treatment works (and other eligible recipients), respectively. CWSRF financial assistance is available generally for projects needed for constructing or upgrading (and planning and designing) publicly owned treatment works, among other purposes defined in CWA Section 603(c) (33 U.S.C. 1383(c)). DWSRF financial assistance is available for statutorily specified expenditures and those that EPA has determined, through guidance, will facilitate SDWA compliance or significantly further the act’s health protection objectives.
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