On Tuesday, the Senate approved a $1 trillion infrastructure package in a 69-30 vote. The bill, named the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, still needs to pass the House of Representatives before it comes into effect.
While the infrastructure package holds a promising future for water, more might be in store for infrastructure soon. As Reuters reports, the Senate immediately began debate on a $3.5 trillion reconciliation package to supplant the $1 trillion passed this week.
The reconciliation package will likely feature significant funds for human infrastructure and climate change resilience/prevention, in addition to additional funding for traditional infrastructure, according to Truthout's analysis of a recent draft.
According to the New York Times, the House majority may even refuse to pass the infrastructure bill until this reconciliation package is passed.
The reconciliation package is a unique part of legislative process in that it can be passed without the supermajority that was required for the original bill. However, whether the Senate can pass this additional package is still unclear.
The NACWA reports that the passed $1 trillion package includes $550 billion in new spending, with $55 billion going toward clean and drinking water.
The Water Environment Federation has prepared a list of key water provisions within the package, which includes $4 billion in grants to address PFAS in drinking water and $15 billion in loans and grants for lead service line replacement.
Importantly, the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund will receive $11.7 billion each over five years.
“The US Water Alliance is very pleased to see this historic investment in our nation’s water infrastructure and we look forward to deploying our network to achieve the best implementation for these funds,” said Scott Berry, director of policy and government affairs on behalf of the US Water Alliance in a statement.
“While we recognize this infrastructure bill is not perfect, and some programs we consider to be vital were not funded in it, we applaud the Senate for voting to move the bill forward and thank the Senators for their bipartisan support of such an important measure," continued Berry "An overwhelming majority of Americans want federal investment in infrastructure—and specifically water infrastructure—because it is too essential to our daily lives and communities to wait.”
