Transcripts For CSPAN3 State Officials Testify On Water Infr

I call this hearing of the subcommittee on fisheries, wildlife, fisheries, water and wildlife, to order. We are here today to discuss innovative financing and funding to address americas deficient Water Infrastructure. The purpose of this hearing is simple, today we will be discussing americas current approach towards Drinking Water and wastewater investment Wastewater Infrastructure investment. Many members of this committee including myself often reference the American Society of Civil Engineers, asce, infrastructure report card. Currently the asce grades americas Drinking Water infrastructure with a d. Wastewater has a slightly better grade, a d plus. That reminds some of our grades in school. Not you. Im glad you didnt look this way. This is not a rural problem or a big city problem, its not a republican or a democrat problem. This is a National Emergency and we need to find solutions before its too late. It is one thing to see these terrible grades on paper, but what does this actually mean for people in their day to day lives . Usually when we imagine life without clean and efficient Drinking Water and wastewater we picture communities that do not resemble our own. We picture far off countries that do not have all the blessings that america has. Sadly, this could not be further from the truth. Currently an estimated 1. 7 million 1. 7 million americans live without access to clean running Drinking Water in their homes. There are tremendous infrastructure needs in rural america, the estimated cost to provide improved rural Drinking Water facilities totals more than 60 billion. With the needs of Water Systems in american, indian and alaskan native villages accounting for 3. 3 billion alone. We are in a position toni addre this cproblem, we have an administration that has made Infrastructure Investment a top priority, coupled with the bipartisan support in both the senate and the house, we have an Incredible Opportunity to work across the aisle and get back on track to making americas Water Infrastructure the best in the world. While we all agree that Infrastructure Investment is a necessity this hearing will look at common sense approaches along with new ideas to fund these important projects so we can give the American People that basic service they desperately need and deserve. A popular funding strategy at the moment is the Public Private partnership or the p 3. P 3s are a crucial component of the administrations proposal and are necessary to get to the 1 trillion investment in infrastructure that the plan promises. While p 3s are a great way to fund certain projects, its not a magic cure for all. P 3s are a great tool in our toolbox, however, it is important to realize p 3s do not always work in small rural states such as arkansas. That being said a combination of innovative financing, private investment along with state and federal funding such as loans and grants is a good way to address the problem. The problem will not be solved with a one size fits all approach. We will have to use every funding and Financing Mechanism at our disposal while giving communities the tools to help themselves fix the problem. For a moment lets picture a Small Community in rural arkansas that is actively trying to update an aging and deficient wastewater system. This community has a small tax base, meaning any Infrastructure Improvements needed would make the cost of utilities simply unaffordable. A Community Like the one that ive described has few options to fund such a project. They toured the Water Infrastructure finance and innovation act or program which provides low interest treasury rates to finance water projects, but this project is not likely large enough to receive any assistance. Not a problem larger communities using wifia to fund large scale products will free up the state Revolving Fund for smaller communities. The clean water state Revolving Fund and the Drinking Water state Revolving Fund provide funding assistance to repair, replace or expand Wastewater Treatment and Drinking Water Treatment Systems consistent with the requirements of the clean water act and the safe Drinking Water act. This community could also fund the project with taxfree Municipal Bonds. Since 1913 bond interest earnings have been exempt from federal income tax, leading investors to offer low borrowing rates to communities in 2016 alone communities issued nearly 38 billion in Municipal Bonds to pay for Water Infrastructure projects, translating into millions of dollars in savings for local water rate payers. Lastly, the Small Community im describing could look toward the federal government along with their state governments for assistance. There are a multitude of grants available to communities to help them help themselves. As you can see, we have many tools at our disposal. The trick is finding what works for each community rather than a one size fits all. What works in rogers, arkansas, might not work in chicago, illinois. The time to act is now, we have an Incredible Opportunity to develop an infrastructure bill that directly addresses americas Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure challenges. I want to thank our Witnesses Today for attending todays hearing and i look forward to hearing real world examples of the problems average americans are facing, im interested in seeing what kind of Common Sense Solutions that we can all agree upon. Now i turn to our Ranking Member, senator duckworth. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I want to apologize i have a terrible cold, yesterday i sounded like chewbacca, today i sound like a boy going through puberty, my voice continues to crack. Im hoping i get to Kathleen Turner tomorrow, but today its not so sexy. But i want to thank the chairman for convening todays hearing and i want to thank all of our witnesses for participating in this important conversation. Last week Ranking Member carper and i organized a round table discussion to highlight some of our most pressing Drinking Water and wastewater challenges. We discussed a 90 plus contaminants that epa currently monito monitors, including toxins like lead, mercury and arsenic. We discussed our most vulnerable populations like young children, pregnant mothers and the elderly whose exposures to toxins in our water system can alter the trajectory of their lives. We also talked about our nations Water Infrastructure. Mostly built in the early to mid 20th century with an average life span of 75 years and the growing backlog of need in communities across illinois and elsewhere. According to the American Water Works Association replacing failing or outdated Drinking Water systems and expanding capacity to match population growth will cost at least 1 trillion over the next 25 years. The American Society of Civil Engineers as my chairman has mentioned highlights that 271 billion in Wastewater Infrastructure needs with 56 million more people connecting to Treatment Plants by 2032. Were now a full six months into the Trump Administration and we still havent seen any meaningful details about the president s infrastructure plan. Despite a lot of campaignstyle rhetoric about the need to invest in our infrastructure, the president s fy 2018 budget provides a net loss, a loss of roughly 144 billion across all modes. The president maintains funding for the state Revolving Funds but eliminates Usdas Rural Development projects and slashes epas budget by 31 . Just last night the white house announced the establishment of a president ial Advisory Council on infrastructure. House and the department of commerce to make recommendations to the president regarding funding, support and delivery of Infrastructure Projects across all modes. A report on the Advisory Councils findings is due sometime before december 31 of 2018. If confusion and delay is the president s goal, mission accomplished. Our goal is to enhance safety, protect Public Health and create jobs. Personally id like to advance those goals and put people back to work sooner than later. Our infrastructure needs are massive and oush communities face daunting investment challenges to guarantee what most of us take more granted, clean, safe, healthy water when we turn on the tap. We are here today to better understand the funding and financing challenges and to work to identify bipartisan solutions. Whether it be tax exempt Municipal Bonds, Public Private partnerships, state Revolving Funds im a Firm Believer in having the right tools for the job. Todays hearing focuses on if the efficacy of the tools available to our communities and to identify the gaps where new tools may be needed or existing tools need to be modified. Each provides communities with opportunities to address their Water Infrastructure needs and each needs to be thoughtfully considered in their context. Again, i thank the witnesses for their participation in this conversation. I look forward to listening to your testimony and i thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator duckworth, very much. Im going to introduce mr. Phrasy who is from arkansas and go to senator booker and he is going to make an introduction also. Mr. Fraise moved in 1990 to be closer to his family and was in a situation where he didnt have running water. In 2014 mr. Fraises mother contacted my office and we discussed the problem that the family was facing. After talking to mrs. Fraise i got her in touch with the Water Systems council who were able to drill wells that brought fresh reliable Drinking Water directly to the home as well as the homes of the neighbors. As many of you know this subcommittee hearing was originally supposed to take place on june 20th, but due to scheduling conflict we had to cancel at the last minute. Unfortunately for mr. And mrs. Fraise they were already on a plane flying to d. C. By the time the hearing got officially canceled. Luckily for me and i think luckily for us i got the opportunity to speak with mr. Fraise in my office about what his family and community went through and how their lives had changed since receiving running water. Most people who had just gotten reliable and affordable Drinking Water into forget about the problem and go on with their lives, but not mr. Fraise. To this day mr. Fraise is still getting the word out to everyone who is hauling water in their community, he told me whenever he sees someone hauling water he stops and tells them about the options that are available for assistance. Mr. Fraise, i would personally like to thank you and your family for everything youve done for the area. I would like to especially thank your wife jenny who was nice enough to travel up to d. C. Again to watch you testify, and given your personal experience, you know, these are the kind of stories that we need to get out. Theres simply no substitute for it. So thank you very much for being here. Senator booker. First of all, i want to thank the chair and Ranking Member for holding this urgently needed hearing, most people dont understand the crisis we have in the United States of america when it comes to the quality of our Drinking Water. The reuters article recently that talked about over 1,000 jurisdictions in the United States of america that have more lead in their water, more lead in the blood of our children than flint, michigan does. We are in crisis in this country and its affecting the next generation, its affecting our economic competitiveness, its affecting the greatest National Treasure we have which is not oil and gas its the genius of our kids. Im very blessed to have a guy here who is one of our champions in our state who is doing extraordinary work in a difficult environment in a city that has had a lot of challenges in a county thats had a lot of challenges with Drinking Water. And so andy i want to thank you for coming here. Andy, for those for the record is currently the executive director and chief engineer of the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority. Before becoming the executive director and chief engineer of the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority in 2011 he was the deputy executive director from 1996 to 2011. For over two decades andy has been just an incredible public servant, he has made a reputation for himself even up to the Northern Counties like essex. He is renowned in his field for the work he has done to upgrade Camden Countys Water Treatment plan implementing cutting edge changes including focusing on Green Infrastructure solutions. He has utilized cutting edge Green Infrastructure solutions in order to help address the other issues including camdens combined sewer overflow challenges. Andy and his team were able to make these impressive improvements and i think this is good news to all of us while holding user rates steady for 17 years and he currently serves on the board the National Association of clean water agencies as the chair of the clean water industry of the future committee and justice and Community Service committee. He also serves on the new Jersey Environmental justice Advisory Council. Im grateful that hes here right now to contribute to this committee and i always say that washington would be a better place if more jersey came down here. So thank you. Very good. Thank you. Thank you very much. Senator duckworth. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Im senator duck worworth. Thank you. Please to welcome you. The metropolitan Planning Council worked for more Sustainable Chicago land region by promoting and implementing solutions for sound regional growth. For more than a decade josh has been at the forefront of Regional Planning efforts through initiatives like green rivers chicago and transform illinois. Josh is the leading voice in the regional conversations about Stormwater Management and water supply management. As well as advancing meaningful water policy. I greatly appreciate his willingness to join us today and very much look forward to his testimony. Thank you. Youre welcome to go ahead and present your testimony. Thank you, chairman boozman, senator duckworth and members of the committee. Id like to express grat feud and my mothers gratitude for sharing my story. For most of my life my family lived without access to safe Drinking Water. It is my hope through telling my story and struggles to secure safe, reliable Drinking Water that congress will put in place policies that will bring affordable Drinking Water to millions of americans who live in our nations rural areas. Providing Rural Community with this reso