Katherine Boyle, E&E reporter

Leading members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today introduced a bill that would authorize nearly $35 billion over five years for water infrastructure, conservation and recycling projects.

The bill would authorize $20 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, a low-interest wastewater loan program that helps states construct water treatment facilities, to be distributed to low-income communities. Additionally, it would expand funding eligibility to initiatives including stormwater management, water conservation, or efficiency projects and reuse and recycling projects.

The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund could receive up to $14.7 billion under the legislation, sponsored by EPW Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), ranking member James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Water and Wildlife Subcommittee Chairman Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and subcommittee ranking member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho).

The legislation contains $1.85 billion for a nationwide grant program that would address combined sewer overflows. Another grant program aimed at helping states and municipalities reduce lead in their drinking water would receive $60 million per year, and a grant program focused on agriculture-related water quality issues would get $50 million per year.

It would launch new incentives for green infrastructure projects and would jump-start a new research and voluntary incentive program aimed at water conservation, efficiency and recycling initiatives, according to the committee.

Boxer and Inhofe said they were very pleased with the bipartisan support for the bill, though Inhofe warned it could face a tough road in the Senate. Nevertheless, he described it as the best opportunity in two decades to get the bill signed into law. "We have come together to put forward a bill that balances the needs of all states, especially rural states like Oklahoma," Inhofe said in a statement. "We simply cannot afford to shortchange our nation's water needs. ... Yet for nearly 20 years, the federal government has burdened state and local government with unfunded mandates."

The Clean Water State Revolving Fund was last reauthorized 22 years ago, while the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund was last reauthorized about 13 years ago.

A key utility group also praised the measure. "We're very happy with the bill," said Susie Bruninga, spokeswoman for the National Association of Clean Water Agencies. "We're glad that the Senate EPW is moving on it quickly, that it's being introduced now so they'll have time to consider it and work out any issues that need to be resolved."

Bruninga also was optimistic about the bill's chances, given its bipartisan backing. "We were hoping we would have it be a 'big four' bill, and it is," she said. "That, I think, helps the bill's chances."

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee easily passed a major water infrastructure and cleanup bill, H.R. 1262, in March, authorizing $13.8 billion over five years for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. The House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, has not yet passed legislation (E&E Daily, April 22).