Volume 165, No. 80 covering the 1st Session of the 116th Congress (2019 - 2020) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“INTRODUCTION OF THE WATER INFRASTRUCTURE TRUST FUND ACT” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E588-E589 on May 14, 2019.
More than half of the Agency's employees are engineers, scientists and protection specialists. The Climate Reality Project, a global climate activist organization, accused Agency leadership in the last five years of undermining its main mission.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
INTRODUCTION OF THE WATER INFRASTRUCTURE TRUST FUND ACT
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HON. EARL BLUMENAUER
of oregon
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, America's water systems are in crisis. While our clean water needs are estimated to be nearly $14 billion per year for the next 20 years, funding has averaged less than $1.5 billion annually since 2011. Drinking water infrastructure is in worse shape--
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that we need to invest over $23 billion annually for the next 20 years to ensure the provision of safe drinking water, while Congress typically appropriates less than $1 billion a year. Though most of our water and wastewater systems are 75-100 years old, these growing challenges are not due to age alone: federal investment has fallen more than 85 percent since 1977. Last year alone, American communities suffered more than 250,000 water main breaks and saw overflowing combined sewer systems. These problems will only increase with inadequate and inconsistent funding. That is why I am introducing the Water Infrastructure Trust Fund Act of 2019.
This legislation will provide a small, deficit-neutral source of revenue to help states replace, repair, and rehabilitate critical clean and drinking water facilities. Half of the trust fund revenue will be distributed to local governments as grants and loans through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) for wastewater treatment construction, while the other half will be distributed through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) to finance projects to meet federal drinking water standards. The Water Infrastructure Trust Fund will be capitalized by a voluntary labeling and fee system, to which businesses that rely on a clean water source can opt-in. Participating businesses would include a small label on their products indicating their commitment to protecting America's clean water, contributing
$0.03 to the trust fund per labelled unit. Businesses and products that could take advantage of the labeling system include: water-based beverages, products disposed of in wastewater, and pharmaceuticals.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to reduce pollution, protect public health, and provide the funding communities need to ensure clean tap water.
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