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1 1 (January 6, 2017)

handle is hein.crs/govcevq0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FF.ri E~$~ & Updated January 6, 2017 WRDA Legislation in the 114th Congress: Clean Water Act and Infrastructure Financing Provisions in S. 2848 and WIIN Most provisions of Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) bills typically relate to authorizing navigation, flood control, and other projects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) or more broadly to water resource infrastructure such as dams and levees. In the Senate in the 114th Congress, WRDA 2016 (S. 2848) would have authorized new Corps studies and projects. It also included a number of amendments to the Clean Water Act (CWA; 33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq.). Title VII of S. 2848 would have authorized and revised several existing CWA provisions and added CWA provisions to address management, treatment, and financing of water quality infrastructure. It also included provisions concerning water infrastructure financing more broadly, beyond the CWA. Similar provisions were not included in the House version of WRDA 2016, H.R. 5303. As described below, water resources legislation enacted in December 2016, the Water Infrastructure and Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN, P.L. 114-322), includes only a few of the CWA and water infrastructure financing provisions in S. 2848. CRS In Focus IF10536, Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN), by Nicole T. Carter et al., is an overview of WIIN. The CWA is the principal law that deals with polluting activity in the nation's streams, lakes, estuaries, and coastal waters. It consists of two major parts: regulatory provisions that require industries and cities to abate pollution and provisions that authorize federal financial aid for municipal wastewater treatment plant construction. The 1987 law initiated a program of grants to capitalize State Water Pollution Control Revolving Funds (SRFs), low-interest loan programs that are administered by states for wastewater treatment construction and other eligible activities, in a new Title VI. Under the revolving fund concept, loans are repaid to the states, to be used for future construction in other communities, thus providing an ongoing source of financing. In 2014, as part of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA 2014, P.L. 113-121), Congress enacted amendments to Title VI that, among others, expanded the list of SRF-eligible projects and extended SRF loan repayment from 20 to 30 years. Other than the amendments in WRRDA 2014, Congress has not enacted major CWA amendments since 1987 (P.L. 100-4), leading to interest in attaching CWA modifications to other legislation with broad support, such as WRDA 2016. * Section 7201 of S. 2848 would have revised CWA Section 221 to authorize $1.8 billion in grants to assist municipalities in planning, designing, and constructing facilities to treat municipal combined sewer overflows, sanitary sewer overflows, and stormwater. Section 221 was enacted in 2001 to provide a source of funding separate from the SRFs to help communities pay for sewer overflow projects, which can be very costly. It was never funded, and authorization of appropriations expired in FY2003. (Not included in WIIN) * Section 7202 would have authorized the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make technical assistance grants to owners and operators of small (<10,000 population) and medium (10,001-100,000) wastewater treatment works. It would have authorized $125 million total for five years to be appropriated. States also could use 2% of their clean water SRF capitalization grants to provide technical assistance. P.L. 114-98 authorized similar technical assistance to small drinking water systems. (Not included in WIIN) * In 2012 EPA adopted a policy intended to provide communities with flexibility to prioritize investments in wastewater and stormwater projects needed for CWA compliance. Section 7203 would have codified this policy (see CRS Report R44223, EPA Policies Concerning Integrated Planning and Affordability of Water Infrastructure, by Claudia Copeland). Section 7203 also would have established an Office of Municipal Ombudsman at EPA to assist cities in complying with federal environmental laws. (Not included in WIIN) * Section 7204 would have required EPA to promote green infrastructure, which uses or mimics natural processes to infiltrate or reuse stormwater runoff beneficially on-site where it is generated, in contrast to traditional approaches to managing urban stormwater utilizing so-called gray infrastructure, including pipes, gutters, ditches, and storm sewers to transport stormwater away from urban areas (see CRS Report R43131, Green Infrastructure and Issues in Managing Urban Stormwater, by Claudia Copeland). Examples include green roofs, rain gardens, and permeable pavements. (Not included in WIIN) * To assess communities' capability to finance individual wastewater infrastructure projects, EPA relies significantly on guidance issued in 1997, which critics say allows consideration of too few of the factors that affect a community's ability to pay for needed projects (see CRS Report R44223, EPA Policies Concerning gognpo goo g , q 'S a X 11LULANJILiN,

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