Underground Construction - September 2021 - 14

WASHINGTONWATCH
Th e Senate infrastructure legislation
provides major funding boosts to the
drinking water and clean water state
revolving funds (DWSRF/CWSRF), but
congressional passage of the bill depends,
apparently, on whether Congress also
passes a second, $3.5-trillion " social
infrastructure " bill demanded by
progressive Democrats in the House.
Th e infrastructure bill allocates
$11.7 billion over fi ve years appropriated
to each of the DWSRF and CWSRF and
$11.7 billion over fi ve years appropriated
for lead service line replacement (through
the DWSRF). Th ose SRF numbers work
out to approximately $1 billion more
a year for each fund than what Congress
has appropriated each year for the past
decade. For example, in fi scal year 2020
Congress appropriated $1.126 billion
for the DWSRF.
Th e money to replace lead drinking
water lines is, however, less than what
President Biden and some Democrats
had been demanding, which was initially
$45 billion.
In addition to the funds for water
infrastructure, the bill also allocates
$65 billion for broadband access to areas
in the U.S., mostly rural areas, without
access. Th e largest chunk of that is through
a broadband equity, access and deployment
program. With that, $42 billion is being
distributed as grants to the states that
would competitively award subgrants
for qualifying broadband infrastructure,
mapping and adoption projects.
Water infrastructure trade groups,
such as the Association of Metropolitan
Water Agencies, had wanted the infrastructure
bill to pick up the provisions
in the Drinking Water and Wastewater
Infrastructure Act (DWWIA) of 2021
which the Senate passed in April. Th at bill
had even higher funding levels, reaching
$3.2 billion a year for both funds in fi scal
2025 and 2026, except that they were
14 SEPTEMBER 2021 | UCONonline.com
Stephen Barlas | Washington, D.C. Editor
Infrastructure Bill Includes Increased
Spending on Water, Sewers
" authorizations, " meaning Congress
would have had to appropriate the money
separately as it has in the infrastructure
bill. Th e DWWIA also had numerous policy
changes and new grant programs, with
regard to water infrastructure projects.
" Ideally, we would have liked the
infrastructure bill to fully fund the
$35 billion worth of drinking water and
wastewater authorizations included in
DWWIA, and we know multiple senators
were fi ghting for that outcome. But we also
don't want the' perfect to be the enemy
of the good,' and the infrastructure bill
does include many positive aspects, " said
Dan Hartnett, chief advocacy offi cer for
legislative and regulatory aff airs, AMWA.
Steve Dye, legislative director, Water
Environment Federation, said that the
House will increase the dollars for water
infrastructure above the Senate numbers
and that those higher appropriations
will make it into a fi nal bill signed by
President Biden.
INGAA Questions Pipeline
Cybersecurity Mandates
Th e ransomware attack on the Colonial
Pipeline in May continues to have federal
regulatory reverberations refl ected in
the fi rst-time safety and operation
mandates published by the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) in July.
But members of Congress, who view
gas and oil pipelines as dangerously
vulnerable to cyberattacks, appear to be
underwhelmed by the DHS mandates,
which come from its subagency, the
Transportation Security Administration
(TSA). A second directive in May was
simply non-enforceable guidance.
A top TSA offi cial told a Senate
committee that the pipeline industry had
input into the new mandates issued on
July 19. But the Interstate Natural Gas
Association of America (INGAA) doesn't
appear particularly happy with them.
According to a spokeswoman, " In this
instance, TSA used emergency authority
to implement a signifi cant new set of
regulations without the usual noticeand-comment
procedures, and INGAA
anticipates that improvements to the TSA
directive will be necessary to maximize its
effi cacy and practicality.
" INGAA believes that the directive
issued last week would be improved by
providing pipeline operators more ability
to base their cybersecurity protections
on individual pipeline systems' specifi c
confi gurations and risks. "
Some in Congress feel the directive
doesn't go far enough. At hearings in
the Senate Commerce, Science and
Transportation Committee, on July 27,
Chairman Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.)
said the DHS directives were a step in
the right direction, but more regulation
is needed.
Th e July directive requires owners
and operators of TSA-designated critical
pipelines that transport hazardous liquids
and natural gas to implement a number
of protections against cyber intrusions.
Th ese would include mitigation measures
to protect against ransomware attacks
and other known threats to information
technology and operational technology
systems, develop and implement a
cybersecurity contingency and recovery
plan, and conduct a cybersecurity
architecture design review.
David Pekoske, administrator of the
TSA, told the Senate committee that
TSA consulted with industry on the
security directive and took its comments
into consideration, including updating
it to incorporate some of the feedback
received. No one from industry appeared
at those hearings.
Cantwell implied that the DHS needed
additional requirements on pipelines,
some of them based on a report from the
Government Accountability Offi ce (GAO).
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