A New Jersey representative held up a piece of dilapidated sewer pipe in front of colleagues on the floor of the House of Representatives to make a point about the need for federal government funding of repairs to water and sewer infrastructure.
Partly as a result, the National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA) and the Clean Water Council (CWC) say they are m king “serious headway” in the fight to expand investment in water infrastructure in the next round of jobs legislation.
A NUCA press announcement says that on Wednesday night, March 10, Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), took to the House floor to encourage inclusion of the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Investment Act (HR 537) in pending legislation to be introduced by the House Ways and Means Committee, which could be considered over the next few weeks.
Pascrell stated that HR 537 “will generate significant investment through the use of tax-exempt bonds for water infrastructure, and that is water and wastewater projects. Congress already exempts airports, intercity rail, and solid waste disposal sites from those bond caps. My bill would remove water infrastructure projects from the cap as well.”
Referring to a pipe section provided by NUCA, Pascrell made his point clear: “I want to have our viewers in the House see this. This is a rotted water main pipe, much like the pipes in many of our districts and many of our communities. I like to call these the out-of-sight, out-of-mind pipes; you don't see them until you have a problem with your water main. But as we have learned over the last couple of years, just because our infrastructure needs are not visible doesn't mean that they are not deteriorating.”
Referring to a chart taken from the CWC’s “Sudden Impact” report, Pascrell noted that “Jobs can result from a national investment of $1 billion in water and wastewater infrastructure – everything from construction, to real estate, to retail, to legal services, to the management of companies and enterprises, to private households, and to maintenance and repair.”
NUCA noted that less than a day after his remarks, HR 537 was included in the latest draft of the Ways and Means jobs bill. NUCA was encouraging members to contact their House lawmakers and tell them to support inclusion of HR 537 in the jobs bill. The congressional switchboard number is 202/224-3121.
