[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 10, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E7]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               INTRODUCTION OF CLEAN WATER SRF PARITY ACT

                                  _____
                                 

                          HON. JOHN GARAMENDI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 10, 2023

  Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, today I reintroduce the ``Clean Water SRF 
Parity Act,'' with Congressman Mike Bost (R-IL).
  This legislation would make nonprofit cooperatives and publicly 
regulated utilities operating wastewater treatment plants eligible 
under the Clean Water Act's State Revolving (Loan) Funds. These same 
entities are already eligible under the Safe Drinking Water Act's State 
Revolving (Loan) Funds and, by extension, the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency's Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act 
(WIFIA) revolving loan fund.
  For 2022, California's State Water Resources Control Board awarded 
$2.7 billion for drinking water and wastewater treatment projects. 
According to most recent Clean Watersheds Needs Survey, California 
needs an estimated $26.2 billion in federal, state, and local 
investment for wastewater treatment, wastewater recycling, and 
stormwater pollution prevention infrastructure over the next 20 years. 
This includes an estimated $24.4 billion needed to modernize aging 
water infrastructure across the state.
  Under the federal Clean Water Act, each state capitalizes its own 
State Revolving (Loan) Fund to provide public financing and grants for 
wastewater, water reuse, stormwater, and surface water pollution 
reduction projects to keep our nation's waterways clean. Since this 
public financing is paid back with interest to help recapitalize each 
State's State Revolving (Loan) Funds, there is no net cost to American 
taxpayers.
  Our bill restricts eligibility for publicly regulated utilities to 
the amounts greater than the $1,638,826,000 appropriated for the Clean 
Water State Revolving Fund program in fiscal years 2020 and 2021. That 
way, we ensure that this new eligibility for nonprofit cooperatives and 
publicly regulated utilities does not come at the cost of municipally 
owned utilities and public projects under the program.
  As a senior member of the House Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure, which authorizes all Clean Water Act programs, I 
strongly support increased federal funding for the State Revolving Fund 
program. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-
58), of which I am an original cosponsor, provided more than $11.7 
billion in new federal funding for the Clean Water State Revolving 
Funds nationwide.
  With enactment of the ``Clean Water SRF Parity Act,'' I expect the 
National Association of Water Companies, Council of Infrastructure 
Financing Authorities, Utility Workers Union of America (AFL-CIO), and 
American Public Works Association to advocate for increased federal 
funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Funds each year.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage all Members of the House to cosponsor this 
bipartisan, noncontroversial bill.

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