U.S. Treasury Opens Access to State and Local Government COVID Assistance
The U.S. Department of Treasury has opened a portal to allow states and local governments access to secure $350 billion in COVID-19 assistance. Special districts are not eligible to receive direct assistance but can request assistance from local city and county officials to transfer awarded funds to help address pandemic response-related expenditures and needs.

Of the $350 billion, states and the District of Columbia will receive $195.3 billion, counties will receive $65.1 billion, and metropolitan cities will receive $45.6 billion. The Treasury will release funds in two tranches, with the first half of the funding being provided starting this month and the other half a year later. However, the Treasury makes an exception for “states that have experienced a net increase in the unemployment rate of more than 2 percentage points from February 2020 to the latest available data as of the date of certification will receive their full allocation of funds in a single payment; other states will receive funds in two equal tranches.”

The Department also released new guidance for eligible uses for the awarded assistance. Eligible uses for the funding include:

  • Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure, making necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking water, support vital wastewater and stormwater infrastructure
  • Support for public health expenditures, such as funding COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral healthcare, and public health and safety staff
  • Address negative economic impacts caused by a public health emergency
  • Replace lost public sector revenue
  • Provide premium pay for essential workers

 

House Committee Circulating Revised Clean Water Infrastructure Draft Legislation
The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has developed a revised discussion draft of H.R. 1915, Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021. This new discussion draft includes all the provisions in the current H.R. 1915, plus a handful of additional new sections that were brought to the committee’s attention over the past two months. The committee is developing this new version of H.R. 1915 ahead of a markup, expected to occur in the coming months. CASA submitted a letter of support highlighting areas beneficial to the clean water sector in the updated legislation.

One new addition of note is Section. 4. Watershed, Wet Weather, and Resiliency Projects. This section requires the assessment of future risks and vulnerabilities to clean water treatment works in the event of either manmade or natural disasters, such as extreme weather and sea-level rise, and supports efforts to increase the resiliency of treatment works infrastructure. The section outlines that eligible activities can include the planning, designing, or constructing of projects to increase resilience of the treatment works through the conservation of water or enhanced water use efficiency, enhanced management through increased watershed preservation and protection, such as utilizing reuse and reclamation of wastewater, or the relocation of facilities that are at serious risk of extreme disaster. The section would be authorized at $200 million for each of the fiscal years 2022 – 2026.

This updated discussion draft maintains the increased reauthorization of $40 billion over five years for the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund (CWSRF) and authorization of $200 million in grants for each of the fiscal years 2022 – 2026 to assist publicly owned treatment works in the implementation of pretreatment standards or effluent limitations for the treatment of PFAS.

 

Senate Passes Wastewater and Drinking Water Infrastructure Package
The Senate has passed the first significant water infrastructure legislation of the year in the form of S. 914, Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Assistance Act. It passed with overwhelmingly bipartisan support on a vote of 89-2 and sent to the House to be considered. In the House, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is considering its own water infrastructure legislation (H.R. 1915), focused specifically on the clean water sector, and is expected to markup its legislation in the coming months. It is possible that S. 914 will be conferenced with H.R. 1915 to create a combined water infrastructure package to be debated and voted on later this year.

Within S. 914, Title II addresses clean water infrastructure priorities and focuses primarily on reauthorizing already existing water infrastructure federal assistance programs. Below is a brief summary of S. 914’s clean water provisions.

  • Wastewater Efficiency Grants Program authorized at $20 million per year FY 22-26 to support facility upgrades and retrofits necessary to create or improve waste to energy systems. Grants are limited to $4 million per project.
  • Alternative Waters Sources Grants program renewed with $25 million per year FY 22-26 to support projects that treat water, wastewater, stormwater, groundwater recharge, and potable reuse.
  • Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants reauthorized at $280 million per year FY 22-26
    • 25% of funding to be allocated to support rural or disadvantaged communities to plan, design, and construct projects to treat, transport, control, treat or reuse sewer overflows, sanitary overflows, or stormwater.
    • 60% of 25% set aside to be used for rural communities if projects exist.
  • Clean Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Grants Program authorized at $25 million per year FY 22-26, with a 75% federal cost-share to support increased resiliency of publicly owned treatment works to impacts from natural hazards or cybersecurity.
  • Connection to Publicly Owned Treatment Works grants program authorized at $40 million per year FY 22-26 to support systems serving less than 3,300 people to connect public to system.
  • Clean Water SRF Program reauthorized:
    • FY 22 $2.4 billion
    • FY 23 $2.7 billion
    • FY 24 $3.0 billion
    • FY 25/26 $3.250 billion
  • WIFIA renewed at $50 million for each of FY 22-26.
  • Water Infrastructure and Workforce Investment training authorized at $5 million for each of FY 22-26.
  • Water Data Sharing Pilot Program authorized at $15 million for each of FY 22-26 to support data sharing on water quality or water technologies.