Congress has the opportunity to ensure that the Southern states of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas have the funds they need to improve, upgrade, and repair drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems.

• Pass budget legislation which ensures base SRF funding is not cut below recent levels, and ensures Bipartisan Infrastructure Law SRF funding continues to be distributed to states and communities. 

• Pass budget legislation which ensures EPA continues to fund its water technical assistance programs at levels comparable to recent years. This assistance should support pre-development planning, engineering assessments, and design work through regional coordination hubs and community partnerships, helping build long-term capacity for accessing SRF funding.

• Use oversight authority to ensure EPA has sufficient staffing at Headquarters and Regional Offices to oversee and implement distribution of federal SRF funding to states.

• Pass legislation requiring annual reporting on project withdrawals, bypassed projects, and funding distribution patterns from both EPA SRFs. This data would help policymakers identify and address barriers that prevent all communities from securing their fair share of funding.

This document will provide more background on the urgent need, and the opportunity to address those needs through Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)-linked and base State Revolving Funds.