[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 167 (Thursday, November 21, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1738]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                INTRODUCTION OF THE WATER TRUST FUND ACT

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                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 21, 2013

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, there is nothing more essential to 
quality of life, to the health of our families and of our communities 
than water. Water, at its most basic level, is life. Safe drinking 
water and basic sanitation make the difference between health and 
sickness, between a family thriving or struggling just to exist.
  Water quality and quantity are serious issues in communities across 
the country, especially now, when changing weather patterns, extreme 
drought, continued growth combine to put an even greater demand on our 
aging, inadequate infrastructure. To ease these pressures, I am 
introducing the Water Trust Fund Act, which would establish a trust 
fund to help local communities meet their water infrastructure needs.
  Over a thousand communities across the country are struggling with 
combined sewer overflows as well as inadequate and aging sewer pipes. 
Small communities in particular, which already face huge questions of 
water supply and quality, have few resources with which to pay the 
bills and are seeing sky-high monthly costs for consumers.
  The Water Trust Fund Act creates a deficit-neutral, consistent, and 
firewalled trust fund to help states replace, repair, and rehabilitate 
critical wastewater treatment facilities. It will be financed by 
voluntary fees from companies that participate, in exchange for the use 
of advertising materials indicating their support for America's water 
systems.
  We face unprecedented challenges to our water infrastructure. More 
and more products are designed to be flushed down toilets and drains, 
placing them in systems that are already stressed. Pharmaceutical 
residues are showing up in treated wastewater and because they are 
difficult to treat, I'm afraid we are slowly medicating vast numbers of 
Americans against their will. Aging water systems--some still made out 
of brick or wood, some dating from the century before last--mean that 
America also faces old-fashioned system reliability issues. 
Unpredictable weather means that water systems are dealing more 
frequently with sewage overflow, flooding, and overwhelmed systems. 
Reports indicate that each year an average of six billion gallons of 
drinking water leaks from these inadequate and ancient pipes. Six 
billion gallons is enough to fill 6,000 Olympic sized swimming pools--
if lined up, these pools would stretch from Washington, D.C. to 
Pittsburgh, PA.
  These aging and outdated systems are not just a local problem, 
relevant only to a single neighborhood, city, county, or even state. 
Water does not obey county boundaries or even state lines, and it is a 
resource on which we all rely. The federal government should help fill 
the funding gaps that local communities and states cannot. The 
opportunity is now: There is significant state and local investment, 
interest rates are low, and the Water Trust Fund will help leverage 
billions of additional dollars to repair our aging infrastructure.
  The American public is already paying a disproportionate share of the 
costs of water infrastructure. Residential households have the least 
capacity to absorb additional costs during these difficult times, and 
they already face wildly escalating costs to deal with problems that 
they did not create. The voracious water demands of industry far 
outstrip household needs. Clean water is absolutely essential for these 
industries and the rest of the business community to function. Water 
infrastructure upgrades will provide the business community far more in 
benefits than it would cost, and it could be used to leverage a broader 
range of investments.
  This bill will help communities deal with their water infrastructure 
needs in a stable, proactive way, and will provide significant benefits 
for those who rely on our water system, the local government officials 
charged with making the system work, and the industries who rely on a 
clean, consistent source of water for their products.

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