HARRISBURG, PA, Nov. 24, 2004 (PRNewswire) -- Pennsylvania will lose more than $10 million in federal seed money to construct much-needed clean-water projects next year as a result of severe cutbacks in federal funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
This funding, which is housed in EPA's Clean Water State Revolving Fund, is channeled through Pennvest -- and similar agencies in other states -- to communities to help them finance costly wastewater construction projects that are vital to public health and safety.
Although this loss in funding could actually have been worse had Congress adopted the Bush Administration's recommended EPA budget, which would have cost Pennsylvania an additional $10 million, Joe Manko, Pennvest's Board chair, said, "This action on the part of Congress and the Administration is an example of the misplaced priorities in Washington.
"With billions of dollars of unfunded water infrastructure needs in the Commonwealth, we should be doing everything in our power to reverse this declining commitment to our environment by those who hold the purse strings in Washington."
For more information, visit the organization's website at www.pennvest.state.pa.us.
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