Clean Water Current

The U.S. House Appropriations Committee marked up and advanced its Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) Interior and Environment spending bill this week, which provides annual federal appropriations for U.S. EPA and its clean water programs.

Overall, the bill provides $11.5 billion for U.S. EPA’s budget, roughly a $2 billion increase over the current level, and billons of dollars in annual funding for key Agency clean water programs.  It is important to note that the following programs appropriated for under this annual bill are in addition to the billions in mandatory clean water appropriations over the next five years that were provided for under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) that was enacted into law last November.  The FY23 bill provides:

• $1.75 billion for the CWSRF, a $113 million increase over the current level of $1.639 billion
  • $553.5 million of this amount is dedicated for Community Project Funding (also known as earmarks). NACWA continues to be very supportive of the return of the earmarks process and are pleased to see several NACWA member project requests included for FY23; however, the Association remains concerned that these are coming at the expense of annual base SRF funding;

     

• $280 million for EPA’s Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants program, in line with the authorized level under BIL and a $237 million increase over the current level of $43 million;

   

•  $80.3 million for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program, including $5 million for the state WIFIA (SWIFIA) program, up $10.8 million over the current level;

   

• $2 million for EPA’s Integrated Planning (IP) activities, representing the first time dedicated funding for IP has been provided since it was codified into law in 2019;

   

• $5 million for EPA’s Water Workforce Infrastructure grants program, up $1 million from the current level;

   

• $10 million for EPA’s Alternative Water Source Projects Program, which was newly authorized under BIL at $25 million annually; and

   

• $680 million for EPA’s Geographic Programs, including among others the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), Chesapeake Bay, and Puget Sound, up $93 million over the current level.

Unfortunately, the bill does not include FY23 funding for two new key programs that NACWA worked hard to secure authorization of under the BIL – an EPA Low-Income Water Customer Assistance Pilot Program and an EPA Clean Water Infrastructure Resilience and Sustainability grants program.  NACWA and the water sector will continue working with the Senate to ensure that these two authorized programs receive FY23 appropriations.

The House committee FY23 appropriations bill also includes a heavy focus on PFAS, including $126 million in funding for EPA’s scientific and regulatory work on these chemicals along with Congressional direction for the Agency.  Some of these key provisions include:

• Urging EPA to act expeditiously in setting drinking water standards for PFAS and in designating PFAS as a hazardous substance under CERCLA and directing the Agency to submit a PFAS spend plan for FY23 that specifies how the Agency plans to allocate FY23 funds in connection to the items identified in the PFAS Strategic Roadmap;

   

• Specifically providing $2.5 million within the Superfund: Remedial program, to support regulatory work needed to designate PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances under section 102 of CERCLA; and

   

• Urging the Agency to develop Effluent Limit Guidelines (ELGs) and biosolids regulations with respect to PFAS chemicals.

Additionally, the House Appropriations Committee this week also marked up and advanced the FY23 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, which provides annual funding for the Department of Energy (DOE) and Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) budgets and projects. 

Of note for wastewater, the bill provides $20 million in Technical Assistance and Workforce Development funding for research and development on technologies to achieve energy efficiency of water and wastewater treatment plants, including the deployment of alternative energy sources.  It also provides $5 million in technical assistance to water and wastewater treatment systems to help further energy efficiency and savings measures. 

NACWA has advocated for these types of provisions, and this is also in line with NACWA’s ongoing work in the energy efficiency and energy resource recovery space.

The House Interior and Environment and Energy and Water Appropriations bills are now expected to come before the full House for a vote in July.  However, it is still unclear if and when the Senate will release its versions of the FY23 appropriations bills. 

Both chambers are expected to begin conferencing a final FY23 Omnibus Appropriations package in August or September, with the hopes of passing it into law prior to the start of FY23 on October 1, 2022.  But given timing and election year politics, it is likely a short-term continuing resolution (CR) will be needed to temporarily fund the federal government at current levels through sometime into the fall.

In the meantime, NACWA will continue advocating with both the House and Senate the importance of fully funding current and newly created clean water programs under the BIL. NACWA urges all of its members to do the same and to utilize NACWA’s FY23 appropriations testimony that outlines the key funding requests, as well as coalition letter NACWA led earlier this month advocating for full funding of water programs authorized under BIL.

Please contact Jason Isakovic, NACWA’s Director of Legislative Affairs, with any questions or to discuss further.