BURSTSens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and John Curtis (R-Utah) have launched a bipartisan push aimed at strengthening water infrastructure across the U.S. West — an arid region coping with a growing population and ever-dwindling resources.
The senators this week introduced the Restoring WIFIA Eligibility Act, a bipartisan and bicameral bill that seeks to unlock federal funding for Western water infrastructure.
"Utah’s rapid population growth is placing significant pressure on our community water resources,” Curtis said in a statement.
“This bipartisan legislation would make it easier for local governments and utilities to invest in critical water infrastructure projects — helping ensure we can meet the growing needs of our communities,” the first-term Republican added.
WIFIA refers to the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014, which created a crediting program for public and private borrowers working on wastewater, drinking water and stormwater projects.
WIFIA loans were designed to help communities undertake critical water initiatives with greater affordability, but certain terms of the legislation have hampered projects that have any federal involvement, according to the senators.
While the projects tend to be managed by nonfederal entities, erroneous classifications of these programs as "federal" have rendered some of them ineligible for WIFIA loans, which are only available to "non-federal borrowers," they explained.
What Kelly and Curtis's new act strives to do is ensure that WIFIA assistance is deemed nonfederal, as long as the recipient is a nonfederal entity and repayment sources are nonfederal.
The new legislation also seeks to make accessible an array of new critical water infrastructure projects, including those that involve cost-sharing between federal and nonfederal entities.
This allowance, the senators stressed, would enable communities to optimize the benefits of completing such essential projects.
“Strengthening Arizona’s water infrastructure is key to the growth and prosperity of our state,” Kelly said in a statement, noting that the bill "will cut red tape" to expand access to federal funds.
This shared effort, Kelly added, could "help modernize our water infrastructure and address critical water challenges facing communities in Arizona and the West.”
Companion legislation has been introduced in the House by Reps. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.).