Administration cites defense needs in opposing $20 billion for
wastewater facilities
Associated Press - 3/14/02
By John Heilprin,
staff writer
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration said Wednesday
it opposes a House plan to make billions more available to help
states with clean water projects because defense spending must
take priority.
Legislation would set aside $20 billion over five years for
Clean Water Act projects to improve sewage treatment systems and
reduce stormwater runoff. Congress has funded such projects at
$1.35 billion annually for the past five years. The president, in
his budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, is seeking
$1.21 billion.
The administration has not offered a five-year plan that could
be compared with the bill sponsored by Reps. John Duncan, R-Tenn.,
and Peter DeFazio, D-Ore.
"The administration would oppose the funding levels in
this bill," Benjamin Grumbles of the Environmental Protection
Agency told a House Transportation and Infrastructure
subcommittee. "The president clearly defined his priorities
in the State of the Union as defense and homeland security,"
said Grumbles, the agency's deputy assistant administrator for
water.
But Grumbles said the administration agrees with many of the
other elements in the bill.
Congress created a loan fund in the late 1980s that states can
drawn upon for their similar funds, which help pay for wastewater
and sewer projects. The government has provided states with almost
$20 billion. Last year, state funds handed out $3.8 billion in
1,370 loans, the most loans in a single year.
Despite its opposition to the $20-billion-over-five-years House
plan, Grumbles said the administration has a "continuing
commitment" to ensure that state funds can indefinitely offer
$2 billion a year in loans.
The EPA is developing an estimate of what it will cost to
properly protect rivers, lakes, and streams — a figure that
probably will exceed $300 billion over the next 20 years,
according to the subcommittee staff. Other groups have put the
figure at more than $400 billion.
Since 1972, the government has spent at least $90 billion to
help improve water quality, Grumbles said. Bush wants to focus on
pollution from runoff such as melted snow or rainfall when it
collects natural and human-made pollutants on the ground and flows
into waterways. Bush's budget proposal includes $238 million for
grants to states to address this kind of pollution, an increase of
less than 1 percent from the current year.
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