* A federal investment of $20 billion in ready-to-go water infrastructure projects would create approximately 400,000 jobs in 2010. Leading economists have estimated between 20,003 and 26, 669 construction, engineering and manufacturing jobs for every billion dollars of federal investment in water infrastructure. Similar studies have been made by various federal agencies.
*Federal investment in water and wastewater infrastructure will result in significant job creation in every state. Assessments of water and wastewater needs conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Government Accounting Office and the Water Infrastructure Network have identified needs in our nation’s largest and smallest communities with projected shortfalls in funding approaching $500 billion over the next 20 years.
* There is an enormous back-log of ready-to-go water infrastructure projects with estimates placing the value of these projects in excess of $40 billion.
* The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided a valuable template for utilizing federal funding for ready-to-go water infrastructure construction. ARRA relied on the CWA and SRF programs to distribute federal funding for the construction of water infrastructure. Modest modifications to this project delivery system can assure that $20 billion can be utilized for critical wastewater and drinking water construction projects within 90-120 days:
Moving forward:
1. Funds provided to the states should be made available in the forms of low interest or negative interest loans.
2. States should be allowed to use up to 3 percent of the funding to hire staff or consultants to assist in processing SRF applications.
3. Encourage states to allocate all funds received within 90-120 days.
4. Funds not under contract within 90-120 days should be remitted to the federal government to go for deficit reduction.
Tags: federal money, infrastructure, water
