E & E Greenwire

Paul Quinlan, E&E reporter
U.S. EPA would create a new green infrastructure program to research and promote the use of soil, plants and vegetation to catch and filter stormwater under a new bill introduced by Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

The bill (S. 3561) calls for EPA to use a competitive grant program to establish three to five research centers at universities or similar institutions across the United States to develop new techniques and technologies for capturing rain where it falls, rather than piping it into waterways.

The legislation would also create a green infrastructure program within EPA's Office of Water to coordinate and promote the use of new rain management techniques. EPA's regional offices would make similar efforts. The bill calls for setting aside "such funds as are necessary" each year from 2011 through 2014, without specifying a price.

Oil and chemical-laced runoff from parking lots, city streets and other urban features is one of the chief sources of fish-killing, water-fouling pollution to bodies like the Chesapeake Bay. Scientists believe green substitutes for the traditional rain gutters, sewer pipes and concrete culvert systems -- such as porous pavements and rooftop gardens -- could go far to heal the nation's increasingly imperiled waterways and replenishing badly needed ground water supplies in dry states like Udall's home state of New Mexico.

"Water quality is an issue facing states across the country, but in particular those of the arid southwest like my home state of New Mexico, where water is always in limited supply," Udall said in a prepared statement. "By promoting greener design of stormwater infrastructure, we can create jobs, save on construction costs, and help recharge our aquifers, all while reducing pollution and flooding of our scenic rivers."

The technology is also seen as a way to reduce flooding during heavy rains that tend to overwhelm the nation's aging stormwater systems, as was the case in Whitehouse's state of Rhode Island, where March and April flooding prompted President Obama to declare an emergency and order in aid.

A partial estimate of the nation's stormwater management needs over the next 20 years pegged the cost at $42.3 billion, according to EPA's 2008 Clean Water Needs Survey.

Udall and Whitehouse's bill, which has been referred to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on which they sit, also calls for local wastewater utilities to receive technical assistance and project grants to upgrade their systems.

"In the wake of the March floods, it's become clear that we need improved techniques to handle storm water runoff," said a statement from Whitehouse. "This legislation will help improve green infrastructure, create good jobs and help control future floods."

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies said the bill was a "key step" toward ensuring communities get credit for implementing green stormwater technology and praised the push to dedicate federal money and attention to the effort.

"NACWA strongly supports the work of Senators Udall and Whitehouse in raising the profile of these important projects," Kevin Shafer, the group's president, said in a news release.