Jeff Denham: “California continues to suffer devastating water shortages and inadequate clean drinking water. We must build new water…”

“California continues to suffer devastating water shortages and inadequate clean drinking water. We must build new water storage. My amendment would simply transfer $2 million into the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act administrative expenses account from the Department of the Interior Office of the Secretary account. The base text of this bill has $3 million less for WIFIA administration than was provided for the fiscal year '18 and provides a $10 million increase for the Office of the Secretary account. The WIFIA program is a vital program for water infrastructure. The program was established in the water resources 2014 bill and has been accepting loan applications for clean and drinking water projects. Water storage projects and flood risk reduction infrastructure projects are eligible under section 3905 of 33 U.S.C. 52, but EPA has yet to establish a process for administering such loans. The additional administrative resources in the amendment would allow the WIFIA office to more quickly pursue financing of Bureau of Reclamation and Army Corps of Engineers projects. It took 4 years--until April 2018--for WIFIA to issue its first loan for a wastewater project. This is an unacceptable timeframe for establishing an essential water financing program when the American Society of Civil Engineers scored our water infrastructure as a D grade last year.…”