July 20th, 2016 | By: America's Infrastructure Report Card
This Tuesday, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hosted a day-long event in Washington, D.C., for representatives from the public and private sectors to discuss emerging finance methods for addressing deficient community water infrastructure.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy opened the day stressing the need to “start thinking about these [water resources projects] as investments, not expenses.” She went on the recognize the success of the EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which has provided over $111 billion to communities since 1987 for water resources projects.
Tuesday’s event included a mixture of expert panel presentations and follow-up discussions designed to address water infrastructure financing issues from a variety of federal, state, and local perspectives. The first panel of the day included municipal leaders from Jackson, Mississippi, and Atlanta, Georgia. The panelists emphasized the importance of seeking out new regional community partnerships and emerging public-private partnerships, like Atlanta’s Care and Conserve program, as ways to fund water-related projects.
The second panel discussion included leaders from several federal agencies and departments and addressed the critical need for greater integration of federal programs supporting water infrastructure investment in economically disadvantaged communities. Harriet Tregoning, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), lamented that while a person’s zip code shouldn’t have an impact on their basic quality of life water quality disparity is a tragic example of the social inequity that exists between communities.
In ASCE’s
2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, the
drinking water and
wastewater categories both received “D” grades reflecting some of the challenges these leaders are trying to address. This week’s EPA conference shows agencies, departments, and service providers from across the country are trying to make changes, coming together to share the information, and make water infrastructure financing a greater reality for American communities nationwide, but there is still so much more to do.
Find out what we can do to raise these grades.
Written by James Kirk, ASCE’s Government Relations intern.
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May 6th, 2014 | By: Infrastructure Report Card
Indeed, May 12 to 16th is officially Infrastructure Week. It’s a week built for talking about trains, planes, and automobiles and all the ways they get from point A to point B.
If you’re in or around D.C., Infrastructure Week is already packed with events to collaborate and learn from industry leaders, and, of course, to raise the question – what’s next for infrastructure in the U.S.? If you’re elsewhere, check out the webinars and livestreamed events and feel free to join the Twitter traffic with #RebuildRenew.
Yes, some might say it’s a bit wonky, but most people haven’t taken ten seconds to imagine their life without infrastructure. So, in honor of Infrastructure Week, let’s consider our lives if we erased the seamless, connected, and capable infrastructure systems we take advantage of every day:
- If there was no road or transit, you’d be walking almost everywhere…. Yes, you…walking….everywhere.
- If there were no pipes, you’d be trekking your water bucket to the nearest well or river. The “watering hole” would no longer be your local sports bar.
- If there wasn’t electricity, let’s just say 99% of American entertainment vanishes, and please don’t mention the cringe-worthy threat of a summer without air conditioning.
- If there weren’t airports, that international vacation you’ve been planning all year is going to take all your vacation days just to get there.
It wouldn’t hurt us to take a big step back and remind ourselves how infrastructure makes our lives possible.
We even have an infographic here at ASCE that does just that. Wherever you are next week, we hope you’ll take a second to
share on our Facebook page how the infrastructure in your community is working for you, or could use some TLC.
Where to Find Us During Infrastructure Week
Want to know more about
Infrastructure Week 2014? Find out more here.
We’re tweeting up an infrastructure storm
@ascegovrel and following the conversation with #RebuildRenew
Want to keep up to speed on infrastructure issues?
Sign up here to get updates.
Tags: #RebuildRenew, infrastructure, Infrastructure Week, leaders, social
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