Dive Brief:
- A bipartisan bill to replace the fixed percentage formula the Environmental Protection Agency uses to allocate Clean Water State Revolving Fund grants with a needs-based formula was introduced in the Senate July 17.
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Using the newly proposed formula, based on 2022 data, 31 states would receive the same or up to a 260% increase in CWSRF funds and 19 states would see reductions, some by as much as a 53%, according to a 2024 Government Accountability Office report. The GAO created the formula to better align the program with the EPA’s goals, including water quality and affordability.
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The new formula reflects current clean water infrastructure demands, state populations and economic burdens, said the sponsors, led by Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Rick Scott, R-Fla.
Dive Insight:
The EPA estimated in 2024 that it needs $630 billion over the next 20 years to repair and replace clean water and wastewater infrastructure, according to the GAO report. The EPA awards CWSRF low-interest loans and grants, which help pay for sewer repair, wastewater treatment plan upgrades, stormwater management and wetland protection, based on a statutory formula enacted in 1987.
The needs-based formula being proposed in the Clean Water Allotment Modernization Act of 2026 would distribute funds based 60% on documented infrastructure needs, 20% on state population from the most recent census and 20% on the state’s share of population at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. It would protect states during the transition by capping annual allotment increases at 200% and decreases at 25% during the first four years.
“It’s time to bring the CWSRF into the 21st century,” Scott said in a news release.
Kelly and Scott first introduced the bill in 2021 with then-Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Richard Burr, R-N.C. A 2016 EPA report found that updating the formula would triple the amount of clean water funding available to Arizona, according to a news release from Kelly’s office.
“Arizona has grown dramatically, but the allocation system for federal water infrastructure funding hasn’t been updated,” Kelly said in a statement. “Our bipartisan bill fixes this so Arizona gets the resources it needs for a secure water future.”
Florida’s allotment of CWSRF funds would increase from 3.43% to approximately 6.16% under the new formula following the four-year transition, Scott’s office estimates.
The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
