Senate Committee Approves WRDA 2016

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved the 2016 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) with a bipartisan vote of 19-1. 

The legislation provides investment in water infrastructure and includes support for water reuse. It was introduced in the Senate April 26 by U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), committee chair, and U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), ranking committee member. It received praise from the National Assn. of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA).

"Many of the municipal clean water community's legislative priorities from recent years are included in this bill, and NACWA believes it will go a long way towards helping ensure all Americans have access to clean and safe water," said Adam Krantz, NACWA CEO. "NACWA thanks Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) for their leadership and for putting together such an ambitious and innovative WRDA package. NACWA is also thankful for the leadership and commitment on the part of other Senate champions who worked closely with committee leaders to provide key provisions in the bill, including Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Sen. Corey Booker (D-NJ), and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)."

The bill also found support from the WaterReuse Assn.

“We are happy to see such an important bill making progress,” said Melissa Meeker, WateReuse Assn. director. “While the bill isn’t perfect, we appreciate the committee’s continued support for reuse and water infrastructure during such a crucial period. We look forward to working with Congress and the administration on the next steps.”

The bipartisan bill is aimed at injecting needed investment into the nation's clean water infrastructure and establishing strong policy tools within the Clean Water Act (CWA) to aid municipal clean water utilities in meeting environmental and public health goals. The bill would:

• Establish, for the first time, a Clean Water Trust Fund;
• Require a study on the potential role of low-income assistance programs to support full-cost pricing for water and sewer rates;
• Establish a municipal ombudsman within the Environmental Protection Agency to advocate on behalf of municipalities;
• Incentivize Integrated Planning and allow greater use of compliance schedules to achieve water quality standards;
• Promote greater use of Green Infrastructure and other innovative technologies to management wet weather; and
• Authorize $1.8 billion for the CWA's sewer overflow control grant program.

Source: National Assn. of Clean Water