NAWC Supported Legislation

The National Solution: The Proper Role of the Federal Government Expand Private Activity Bond Availability for Water Projects

Sustainable Water Infrastructure Investment Act, H.R. 537

View a summary of H.R. 537

NAWC supports legislation that would bring water and wastewater projects out from under the state volume cap on Private Activity Bonds (PABs), and encourages Congress to pass such legislation this year.

The EPA has projected that this simple change in the tax code could pump as much as $6 billion annually toward addressing our nation’s infrastructure replacement challenge. The cost to the federal government, however, would be small; recent U.S. Department of Treasury estimates put the price tag at $34 million over five years, or $214 million over the next decade.

Expanding access to PABs is an essential step toward allowing for creative and successful public-private partnerships in which municipalities can work along with the private sector to reduce budget liabilities and increase cost effectiveness. Under the congressionally mandated rules governing PABs, state volume cap restrictions are limiting the potential for public-private water and wastewater solutions. This simple tax-code change will result in lower-cost financing that is passed onto water and wastewater customers. It will also spread the financial risk to the private sector and help to relieve all levels of government from the burden of funding these much-needed investments.