States Concede In Fight On EPA Water Funding Pilot But Seek 'Refusal Right'

摘要

State opponents of a novel EPA water infrastructure funding pilot are conceding that they are not likely to block Congress from creating the program in a pending Army Corps of Engineers authorization bill but they are urging lawmakers to preserve states' role in the funding process, including by requiring municipalities to give states a novel "right of first refusal" before seeking new project financing. "As much as we pushed back..., when you have the entire American Water Works Association (AWWA) advocating, and you have a budget climate that is a zero sum game, it's very attractive" for Congress to create the less costly financing mechanism, Alex Dunn, executive director of the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), told the Council of Infrastructure Financing Authorities (CIFA) April 15.