Merkley hails water infrastructure bill’s passage

The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a water infrastructure bill cheered by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., as it contained several provisions that he said will create jobs and funding opportunities for Oregon communities.

The bill, which passed the Senate with strong bipartisan support, passed the House earlier this week and heads to the president’s desk to be signed into law.

Here’s the rest of Merkley’s news release on the legislation:

The bill includes increased funding Merkley fought for in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) for small ports in Oregon and the inclusion of a new program – the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) – written by Merkley to help local communities finance safe drinking and wastewater infrastructure projects.

“The best thing we can do right now is to make needed investments in our infrastructure that help create middle class jobs,” said Merkley. “This bill creates jobs by funding critically needed dredging in our coastal ports. In addition, this bill contains my program for financing much-needed water projects across America.”

The bill also contains a new “Buy America” provision championed by Merkley that will ensure American tax dollars go to support American jobs wherever possible in water infrastructure projects financed by his WIFIA program. Foreign companies, including an overseas steel company owned by a Russian oligarch, had fought to weaken the provision in the House-Senate conference, but Merkley led the effort to successfully push back and keep the provision in the bill.

“If we don’t make things in America, we won’t have a middle class in America,” said Merkley. “Today’s bipartisan vote is a huge victory for the principle that American tax dollars should support American jobs.”

Merkley has consistently fought in the Senate to make sure that the HMTF is used for its intended purpose of maintaining ports and that small ports in America receive a share of this funding. For small coastal communities in Oregon, access to funding for dredging is crucial to the economy.

The legislation passed Thursday will guarantee that small ports across Oregon and the nation receive almost $90 million a year, more than doubling the $40 million that Merkley earlier fought to include in this year’s budget.

WIFIA was introduced by Merkley in 2012 and was included in the Senate-passed WRDA bill in 2013.

The WRDA legislation establishes a five-year pilot program to allow the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency to provide loans and loan guarantees for flood control, water supply and wastewater infrastructure projects.

This financing will allow more communities to undertake critical construction, maintenance, and repairs without saddling local ratepayers with big bills.

In almost every town hall meeting that Senator Merkley holds, in every corner of Oregon, he hears about the challenges that local communities are having finding funding to replace or upgrade aging water infrastructure.

Clean drinking water and modern wastewater treatment systems are critical for public health and safety, strong local businesses, population growth, and clean rivers and aquifers. And these projects have the potential to put thousands of Oregonians to work.