Clean Water Current
NACWA Works with Congress on Key Clean Water FY21 Appropriations Provisions – Member Advocacy Needed!
(March 11, 2020) – As Congressional appropriators begin their Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) appropriations process, NACWA continues to work closely with Members of Congress to secure key clean water funding and provisions in the Interior and Environment bill, which funds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and core clean water programs.
In the House, NACWA is once again working with Reps. Napolitano (D-CA) and Katko (R-NY) on a bipartisan FY21 appropriations letter in which they are requesting Congress provide $3.4 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF), more than double that of the current level. Additionally, their request also includes a doubling of the Drinking Water SRF (DWSRF) to $2.32 billion.
Reps. Napolitano (D-CA) and Katko are inviting all members of the House to join them in signing onto this bipartisan appropriations request letter to ensure Congress provides important increases to the SRFs. NACWA has been working to help secure several cosigners of this request letter and strongly encourages its members to reach out to their respective Representatives and ask that they sign on by Friday, March 13th. A copy of the letter and with Reps. Napolitano’s and Katko’s staff contact information can be found here to reference when doing outreach.
NACWA is also currently working with several members of the House and Senate to request that Congress provide strong FY21 funding for other key clean water priorities, including Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Control Grants, Water Workforce Infrastructure and Utility Development Grants, and Integrated Planning (IP) and EPA’s Municipal Ombudsman Office.
Last week, NACWA submitted its comprehensive FY21 clean water programmatic requests to Senate and House appropriators. NACWA submitted identical testimony to both the Senate and House requesting funding for important EPA clean water programs, including the SRFs, Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Control Grants, WIFIA, IP and the Municipal Ombudsman office, geographic watershed programs, and workforce grants among others.
NACWA will be meeting with both Senate and House appropriations committee staff in the coming weeks to discuss these FY21 requests further and ensure the public clean water sector continues to build on the positive gains made over the previous fiscal years.
Additionally, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler testified last week before the House Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee on the Agency’s FY21 budget submitted to Congress earlier this month. NACWA worked with appropriations staff to ensure members of the committee highlighted to the Administrator the importance of strong federal clean water funding.
Please contact Jason Isakovic or Kristina Surfus, NACWA’s legislative staff, with any questions or to discuss further.