Congressman Sander Levin

Water Quality Investment Act

On March 12, 2009, the House of Representatives approved the Water Quality Investment Act [H.R. 1262] on a vote of 317 to 101. This bill makes key investments to improve water quality.

After years of underfunding wastewater infrastructure, this legislation calls for a robust level of federal funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program. This critical program assists states and communities build water treatment plants and upgrade sewer systems to keep pollution out of our lakes, rivers and streams.

The Revolving Fund program has been critical to the effort to keep pollution out of the Great Lakes. For example, between 2001 and 2004, the Revolving Fund provided more than $100 million to upgrade the Twelve Town Drain in Oakland County. Prior to these improvements, the Drain was overwhelmed during heavy rain events, pouring billions of gallons of partially treated sewage into the Clinton River and Lake St. Clair every year. Without the low-cost infrastructure loans provided by the Revolving Fund, the 14 communities in Oakland County responsible for correcting the sewer overflows in the Drain would have had to pay millions of dollars more to complete the upgrade.

At the request of myself and Michigan’s two Senators, Congress also approved a number of special appropriations, totaling $6 million, to speed the completion of the improvements in the Twelve Town Drain. The improvements were completed in 2005, and sewage discharges into the Clinton River and Lake St. Clair have been significantly reduced.

H.R. 1262 calls for a total of $13.8 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund over the next five years. The legislation is currently pending consideration in the Senate.

(Updated June 19, 2009)