DALLAS - Congress is expected this week to pass a water infrastructure bill that provides as much as $12 billion of federal funding for 34 port, harbor, and inland waterway projects included in a conference committee report.
The proposed Water Resources Reform and Development Act would also create a $350 million, five-year pilot credit enhancement program for water projects based on the popular Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act used to fund highway and transit projects.
The House may vote on the measure Tuesday with Senate action expected before the end of the week.
The bill was developed by a conference committee consisting of members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The Senate passed its water infrastructure bill, S. 601, in May 2013 on an 83-14 vote. The House version, HR 3080, passed in October with a margin of 417-3.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chair of the Senate committee, and Sen. David Vitter, La., the ranking Republican member, said the 34 projects have undergone scrutiny by Congress and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
"These projects will strengthen our nation's infrastructure to protect lives and property, restore vital ecosystems to preserve our natural heritage, and maintain navigation routes for commerce and the movement of goods to keep us competitive in the global marketplace," Boxer and Vitter said.
Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., chairman of the House committee, said the compromise bill takes off the table $18 billion of old or obsolete projects from the 2007 federal water infrastructure bill.
"This legislation is about jobs and our country's economic prosperity, and I look forward to bringing it back to the House for a final vote," Shuster said.
The 532-page conference report was released May 15.
The largest project funding in the bill is $6.7 billion for Louisiana's $10.3 billion Morganza to the Gulf system of levees, locks, and other flood control structures. Other large projects include $1.2 billion for environmental work in Chesapeake Bay and $748 million for improvements to the Sabine Neches Waterway in Texas and Louisiana.
The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act credit assistance provision sets up separate programs under the Corps of Engineers for dams, levees, and water supply project and the Environmental Protection Agency for drinking and clean water projects.
Total funding for the two-part, five-year pilot program is set at $40 million in fiscal 2015, $50 million in 2016, $70 million in 2017, $90 million in 2018, and $100 million in 2019.
The original Senate WIFIA provision provided $100 million each year for the credit program.
The low-interest WIFIA loans can be used to fund up to 49% of large water projects costing at least $20 million and smaller projects of up to $5 million on systems serving 25,000 customers or fewer.
The water bill prohibits the use of tax-exempt bonds to finance the remaining 51% of a project that receives WIFIA assistance.
WIFIA will be a welcome financing tool despite the prohibition on tax-exempt debt, said Aurel Arndt, chief executive officer of Lehigh (Pa.) County Authority.
"If a community can save just 2 percentage points on the interest rate for a 30-year loan that results in cost savings of 25% for the total project," said Arndt, who is chairman of the American Water Works Association's water utility council. "That's big savings for local communities without significantly impacting the federal budget."
The Water Resources Reform and Development Act will ensure projects get completed faster without sacrificing the environment, said Randall Over, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
"WRRDA will drastically reduce the time it takes for project approvals by consolidating or eliminating duplicative studies, allowing concurrent reviews, and streamlining environmental reviews," Over said. "The significant reforms in the law are not at the expense of environmental quality and will allow for a stronger, safer national water resources infrastructure."
