Underground Construction - April 2018 - 8

WASHINGTONWATCH

Stephen Barlas | Washington Editor

Trump Infrastructure Plan Might Have Mild Benefits

P

President Trump's infrastructure
proposal presents a number of what
can only be described as possible
opportunities for the pipeline and
underground sewer/water industries, because they are vague at
best. Moreover, Congress is unlikely
to swallow the whole expensive
package, which covers highways,
ports and other infrastructure, and
would cost $200 billion over 10
years at a time when the federal
deficit is swelling from the big tax
package passed earlier this year. The
congressional budget deal for the
current and next fiscal year pumped
billions of new funds into defense
and domestic programs.
The Trump proposal contains
some useful deregulatory measures
to ostensibly prevent states from
using their administration of federal
environmental laws to impede
pipeline construction. It also contains backing for new underground
water infrastructure, although it says
little specifically about broadband
construction except to include it as
one of the uses for funds in a new
rural infrastructure program.
The Trump initiative is a bit
more specific with regard to water
infrastructure, endorsing funding
of the Water Infrastructure Finance
and Innovation Act (WIFIA). That is
the new EPA program funded at a
low level - $30 million in fiscal 2017
- which provides credit assistance
to mostly large regional projects, to
leverage private and state funding.
On the positive side, the document
endorses additional budget authority for WIFIA, and removing the
current lending limit of $3.2 billion.
But the plan has caused some
dismay because it advocates broadening the types of projects the
WIFIA can cover beyond conventional water projects, such as
drinking water and sewers, to flood
mitigation, hurricane and storm
damage reduction, navigation,

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APRIL 2018 | UConOnline.com

environmental restoration and
restoration of aquatic ecosystems,
noting these have principally been
within U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
(USACE) jurisdiction. The plan also
advocates opening WIFIA to fund
remediation of water quality contamination by non-liable parties at
Brownfield and Superfund sites.
"We have deep concerns about
the idea of sweeping in a whole lot
of unrelated projects into WIFIA,"
said Tommy Holmes, legislative
director for the American Water
Works Association. "WIFIA was
specifically created to be a source
of low-cost loans for projects
outside the scope of the SRF, and
to be near budget-neutral. It's hard
to see how many Superfund- or
Brownfield-type projects would
have the reliable revenue stream to
pay back a WIFIA loan."
While pressing for expansion of
WIFIA, however, Trump's proposed
budget request for WIFIA in fiscal
2019, which starts Sept.1, 2018,
is $20 million - less than the $30
million it received in 2017. Trump
does propose a new $100 billion
in Incentives Program funding to
be split among EPA, Department of
Transportation (DOT), and USACE

for infrastructure projects, including
"drinking water facilities, wastewater facilities, [and] storm water
facilities." There is also $20 billion for
a Transformative Projects Program
that includes the clean water
sector. However, this new money is
predicated upon the private sector
putting up significant sums of its
own.
"While we appreciate the administration's focus on water, NACWA is
concerned that the White House's
proposal may be overly ambitious
in terms of how much private
investment and other non-federal
revenue can be leveraged, particularly for water-specific projects," said
Adam Krantz, CEO of the National
Association of Clean Water Agencies
(NACWA). "We need a higher level of
direct federal investment than what
is contemplated here, to ensure
there is a meaningful partnership
between the federal and local
levels."
The Trump proposal doesn't
mention the EPA's Clean Water
and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, which receive annual
appropriations from Congress. But
in what could be interpreted as
future impediments to that funding,

the Trump plans says: "The flexibility
to use Federal dollars to pay for
essentially local infrastructure
projects has created an unhealthy
dynamic in which state and local
governments delay projects in the
hope of receiving Federal funds.
Over-reliance on Federal grants and
other Federal funding can create a
strong disincentive for non-Federal
revenue generation."
INGAA President and CEO Don
Santa said at hearings in the Senate
Energy and Natural Resources
Committee in February, "The
permitting principles developed by
the White House recognize many of
the challenges with the permitting
process and suggest reforms that
could facilitate the more responsible and orderly development of
infrastructure. We hope this is the
first step toward more comprehensive permitting reform."
The infrastructure document
mentions pipelines only four times
in its 53 pages, with three of those
references within a paragraph
allowing the Secretary of the
Interior to approve rights-of-way
for pipelines and facilities necessary
for the production of energy across
NPS-administered land. Currently,
pipelines crossing NPS land must be
approved by Congress.
With regard to permitting reform,
a key objective for the pipeline
industry, the Trump deregulatory
proposals are vague. The initiative
does not specifically mention,
much less endorse, House and
Senate bills - both of those mild
improvements - that have already
been introduced. "We encourage
enactment of these provisions as
part of an infrastructure bill or via
another suitable legislative vehicle,"
Santa stated.
The Trump infrastructure initiative
does not propose any specific
changes to the Natural Gas Act that
would either strengthen the hands
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