The following are selected sections from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) release of adminstrator Lisa P. Jackson’s 11 May 2009 testimony before the United States Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The testimony dealt with the $10 billion+ budget, which includes $3.9 billion for water infrastructure:
Introduction
The President requests $10.5 billion for FY 2010 to carry out EPA’s mission to protect human health and safeguard and improve the environment. This budget represents a 37 percent increase over our FY 2009 Budget — the highest level ever for EPA. It reflects both the challenges and promise we face in an era of higher energy costs, global climate change, and economic crisis. We recognize that now is the time to make the environmental investments to support a cleaner energy economy and a more sustainable future….
Invests in Water Infrastructure
The most significant investments in the FY 2010 budget include $3.9 billion total for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds to fund water infrastructure projects for states, tribes, and territories. This budget includes $2.4 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and $1.5 billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. These investments will help the Nation build, improve, and repair the infrastructure that provides us with reliable and safe sources of water.
We estimate that this 157% funding increase in the State Revolving Funds will finance 1,000 clean water and 700 drinking water projects across America — projects that will upgrade and update the nation’s aging water infrastructure, assure compliance with Safe Drinking Water Act requirements, make water delivery more efficient, and create American jobs that pay well. These investments channel critical funding for water system pipe replacements and help address an estimated 240,000 water pipe breaks that occur across America each year and waste millions of gallons of water.
The Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds provide grants to states to capitalize their own revolving funds, providing infrastructure financing to communities, making water infrastructure more efficient, and supporting green jobs in the 21st century. Because repayments and interest are recycled back into the program, these State Revolving Funds generate funding for loans even without Federal capitalization. We estimate that for every Federal dollar invested, approximately two dollars in financing are provided to municipalities.
The Administration will make these water investments with an eye to the future. EPA will continue to work with state and local partners to develop sustainability policies, including management and pricing, conservation, planning adequate long-term funding for future capital needs, and providing equitable consideration of small system customers. As President Obama has said, now is the time to make long overdue investments in clean energy and new infrastructure to create a platform for entrepreneurs and workers to build an economy that will lead us into a better future. This significant investment sends a clear message to American taxpayers that the water infrastructure, that all of us rely on every day, will be repaired, maintained, and modernized for the 21st century.
Superfund
The $1.3 billion Superfund budget contains an increase of $24 million over FY 2009. Funding in the budget will enhance enforcement and removal work as well as support the Superfund program. The budget also includes a proposal to reinstate the Superfund tax that expired in 1995. Beginning in FY 2011, the taxes should generate $1 billion a year, rising to $2 billion a year by 2019 – all to fund needed cleanups across America. These efforts focus on ensuring that contaminated sites are ready to be returned to beneficial use by our communities.
Brownfields
The 2010 budget provides a total of $175 million for the Brownfields program, a $5 million increase from 2009. This includes $149.5 million for Brownfields State and Tribal Assistance Grants to continue to provide Brownfields assessment, revolving loan fund, clean-up, and job-training grants. The Brownfields program is designed to help states, tribes, local communities and other stakeholders work together to assess, safely cleanup, and reuse Brownfields. Revitalizing these once productive properties helps communities by removing blight, satisfying the growing demand for land, helping limit urban sprawl, enabling economic development, and improving quality of life.
Read the full release at EPA’s website.
