WASHINGTON -- The Senate may vote Monday on whether to limit debate on a $9.4 billion bipartisan water bill that would provide $220 million in federal funding to remedy the Flint, Mich., water crisis as well as to help other municipalities facing water infrastructure issues.
The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2016 (S. 2848), introduced in April by Sens. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., the chairman and ranking minority member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, was brought to the Senate floor on Wednesday after more than four months of consideration and debate over Flint-related provisions.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., asked for the vote to limit debate and avoid a filibuster in the Senate on the substitute amendment or bill, both of which were introduced by Inhofe and Boxer. The filing deadline for amendments is 3:30 p.m. on Monday, though Inhofe urged members of Congress to submit amendments by noon Friday in an effort to expedite the process.
Should the vote to invoke cloture be approved, up to 30 hours of debate and a roll call vote on the adoption of the substitute amendment would follow. If cloture is not invoked on the amendment, the Senate would immediately vote on the motion to limit debate on the underlying bill.
Several Senate Democrats and Republicans have pushed to hold a vote in the coming week, and Inhofe stressed the economic benefits such a bill could provide.
In his remarks to the committee Sept. 8, Inhofe cited a recent study by the Water Environment Federation that found for every million dollars of federal spending on drinking water and clean water infrastructure, $2.95 million in economic output is created for the U.S. economy.
"Due to their ripple effect through the economy, these investments will result in new federal tax revenues nearly equal to the infrastructure investment," Inhofe said. "By investing in America's crumbling drinking water infrastructure we will help protect the health of our citizens while ensuring a very good return on investment."
The WRDA includes a Flint package introduced by Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., which would provide $220 million in immediate emergency federal funding to Flint and other cities experiencing such crises.
Peters and Stabenow said this week they hope to soon see the Flint package pass the Senate.
"We are pleased that after months of working with Republicans and Democrats, our agreement to help Flint and other communities is now before the Senate as part of the Water Resources Development Act," the Michigan Senators said in a statement. "In the coming days, we will continue our effort in the Senate to finally pass this urgently-needed help for Flint families."
Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday, Peters said floor time for the measure is "overdue," but "what really matters is that we now have an agreement to move forward."
He said the bill would improve drinking water infrastructure in Flint and other communities with aging infrastructure, and also noted that the direct spending would be offset. The Flint money would be paid for by using funds from the Energy Department's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program.
In March, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, placed a hold on the Peters-Stabenow amendment – originally introduced as an amendment to the Energy Modernization Act- due to concerns it would prove too costly. Peters and Stabenow then agreed to remove their package aiding Flint, which has been ravaged by lead contamination in its drinking water system since April 2014, from the energy bill and instead place it onto the WRDA.
The WRDA would make permanent the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA), which was introduced as a pilot program in 2014 and leverages federal investments on a basis of up to 60 to 1. It would also provide $70 million for credit subsidies to allow the Environmental Protection Agency to make secured loans for infrastructure investments. But $20 million of that amount could not be used in conjunction with tax-exempt bonds.
The bill would also create a water infrastructure trust fund to be used for capitalization grants for Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs). The trust fund would be financed by fees collected for a voluntary labeling system.
The WRDA is authorized by Congress every two years to provide funding to inland water and marine transportation systems.
The bill would be one of the last key pieces of legislation for Boxer, who served in the Senate for 24 years and before that, in the House for a decade. She plans to retire after the current session.
