Blumenauer Introduces the Water Protection and Reinvestment Act

On August 1, Representative Blumenauer (D-OR) introduced introduced the Water Protection and Reinvestment Act of 2012(HR 6249), a bill that “will provide a deficit-neutral, consistent, and protected source of revenue to help states replace, repair, and rehabilitate critical wastewater treatment facilities”.

At the heart of the Act is a plan to establish a water trust fund to finance clean water infrastructure, funded by those who use water and contribute to water pollution at the manufacturer level. Funding created by the Act would primarily be distributed as grants and loans through the existing Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund and a number of new grant programs, while ten percent would be used in an innovative financing program.

Read the press release about the bill from Congressman Blumenauer’s website.

Download a summary of the bill.

Download the full text of the bill.