Congress Nears Passage of Major Spending Measure With Funds for Construction and Infrastructure
EPA Water Infrastructure Spared Deep Cuts
For the EPA, the agency's main water infrastructure account was trimmed by only 1%, to $4.48 billion.
Within that total the bedrock Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) were frozen at their 2023 levels of $1.6 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively.
A water thread running through the new spending package is its large number of "congressionally directed spending" and "community project funding" items, or earmarks.
The National Association of Clean Water Agencies is glad to see that water programs "have been spared deep cuts," including the SRFs, says Kristina Surfus, managing director for government affairs.
But Surfus adds, "While we are glad to see many important local water projects supported [as] Congressionally Directed Projects, we are deeply concerned that those earmarks are being funded with SRF dollars."
She says, "That situation is not sustainable for the SRFs once the [IIJA] supplements end in FY 26."