Industry groups are hopeful that Senate committee approval of a bill to reauthorize the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds bodes well for final congressional approval this year. Industry has had a long wait: the Clean Water SRF was last reauthorized 22 years ago and the Drinking Water SRF was last approved in 1996. Congress annually appropriates funds for the SRFs but at lower levels than called for in needs-assessment surveys.
The water measure, which the Environment and Public Works Committee cleared on May 14, would authorize $38.5 billion over five years. Of that, $20 billion is for clean-water funding and $14.7 billion for drinking-water funding. By comparison, 2009 appropriations were $689 million for the clean water SRF and $829 million for the drinking water SRF.