S.Amdt. 256

SA 256. Mr. CHAFEE (for himself, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Jeffords, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Reed, Mr. Levin, Mr. Kennedy, Ms. Snowe, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Lieberman, and Ms. Collins) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the concurrent resolution S. Con. Res. 18, setting forth the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2006 and including the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2005 and 2007 through 2010; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. __. SENSE OF SENATE REGARDING WATER INFRASTRUCTURE.

(a) Findings.--The Senate finds that--

(1) payments to States from the Federal Water Pollution Control State Revolving Fund under title VI of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.) are essential to protect public health, fisheries, wildlife, and watersheds, and to ensure opportunities for public recreation and economic development;

(2) despite important progress in protecting and enhancing water quality since the enactment of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) in 1972, serious water pollution problems persist throughout the United States;

(3) the report of the Environmental Protection Agency dated September 30, 2002, and relating to clean water and drinking water infrastructure gap analysis found that there will be a $535,000,000,000 gap between current spending and projected needs for water and wastewater infrastructure over the next 20 years if additional investments are not made;

(4) in November 2002, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the annual investment in clean water infrastructure needs to be at least $13,000,000,000 for capital construction and $20,300,000,000 for operation and maintenance; and

(5) the Federal Government is a vital partner with State and local governments and must continue to share in the burden of maintaining and improving the water infrastructure of the United States.

(b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate that payments to States from the Federal Water Pollution Control State Revolving Fund under title VI of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.) should be increased to $1,350,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 to assist States and local communities in meeting water quality standards and restoring the health and safety of the water of the United States.