APWA Joins Coalition to Reauthorize the CWSRF

October 15, 2025

Dear Committee Chair Graves, Subcommittee Chair Collins, Ranking Member Larsen, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Wilson:

The 64 undersigned organizations write to express our strong support for increasing authorized funding levels for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) when the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee takes action to reauthorize the program. Conversely, we would strongly oppose efforts to reduce authorized funding below the current level.

Our organizations are united in the belief that all American communities should have access to wastewater and stormwater infrastructure that protects their safety and health, sustains a thriving environment, and supports a robust workforce. Congress, working with the EPA and states, has helped make significant progress toward this goal over the past 37 years by providing billions of dollars in loans, principal forgiveness, and technical assistance for clean water projects through the CWSRF.

Yet America’s infrastructure continues to face many challenges. Across the country, collection systems, septic tanks, and treatment facilities have exceeded their intended lifespans and require costly repairs. A growing percentage of treatment plants have reached or surpassed their design capacity. More than 700 cities and towns are still served by combined sewer systems that can overflow into nearby rivers and lakes when it rains, and many communities’ flood control measures are not capable of handling the runoff generated by developed land. The American Society of

Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave our nation’s wastewater infrastructure a D+ grade, and our stormwater infrastructure a D, in its 2025 report card.

Our communities can overcome these challenges, but doing so requires significant resources. The Environmental Protection Agency’s most recent survey of wastewater and stormwater utilities found that they need to invest $630 billion in their systems over the next twenty years just to meet current standards. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 provided an impactful $12.7 billion in supplemental funding into the CWSRF, but a large gap remains. According to the ASCE, the wastewater and stormwater funding gap last year alone was $69 billion, with only 30 percent of the sector’s capital needs being met.

Local governments and utilities are doing their best to step up and fill that gap, but when they shoulder most of the burden, it can create affordability challenges in their communities. The Congressional Research Service calculated that 96 percent of water and sewer spending in 2023 was by state and local governments, with many of those costs falling on local ratepayers. The ASCE found that the average bill for residential wastewater customers nearly doubled between 2010 and 2020. This is a key reason why the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that between 12.1 million and 19.2 million households in the U.S. lack affordable access to water and sewer services.

In light of these challenges, federal support for the CWSRF is more important than ever. Federal investment can help communities build and repair the infrastructure they need while maintaining affordable bills for their residents. Polls of U.S. voters have shown that the vast majority of respondents want water infrastructure to be the top priority for infrastructure investment by the federal government. Moreover, federal funding for water systems—when combined with state and local contributions—generates significant economic activity and creates thousands of jobs.

We ask that you establish robust authorizations for the CWSRF that meet or exceed the levels set in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Maintaining a sufficiently high authorization ceiling preserves the flexibility of appropriators to meet critical infrastructure needs. This is especially important given that capital costs continue to escalate due to inflation, so each dollar of funding does not go as far as it did five years ago when this program was last reauthorized. Reducing authorizations, on the other hand, would unnecessarily hamstring Congress’s ability to support communities now and respond to emerging crises in the years to come.

Thank you for considering our request. We look forward to working with the Committee to achieve our shared goal of high-quality wastewater and stormwater infrastructure for all American communities.
Sincerely,
Alabama Rivers Alliance
Alliance for the Great Lakes
American Littoral Society
American Public Works Association
American Rivers
American Society of Civil Engineers
American Water Works Association
Amigos Bravos
Associated General Contractors of America
Bayou City Waterkeeper
Blackbelt Women Rising
The BlueGreen Alliance
Center for Water Security and Cooperation
Clean Water Action
Clean Water Construction Coalition
Climate Mayors
Community Water Center
DC Water
Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association
Earth Charter Indiana
Engineers Labor-Employer Cooperative
Environmental Law & Policy Center
Environmental Protection Network
Flow Water Advocates
Freshwater Future
Friends of the Alabama River
Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative
GreenLatinos
Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD)
Hudson Riverkeeper
Illinois Environmental Council
Indiana Conservation Voters
The Indiana Forest Alliance
Jacobs
Kingdom Pathways
League of Conservation Voters
Louisville MSD
Milwaukee Water Commons
National Association of Clean Water Agencies
National Wildlife Federation
Native American Indian Association of Tennessee
Natural Resources Defense Council
New Jersey Future
New Jersey League of Conservation Voters
Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust
Pittsburgh Water
River Network
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Seattle Public Utilities, City of Seattle
Sierra Club
Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter
Southern Environmental Law Center
Surfrider Foundation
Trust for Public Land
United for Infrastructure
United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (USW)
Universal Access to Clean Water for Tribal Communities
Upstream Pgh
US Water Alliance
Water Environment Federation
Water For People
Waterkeeper Alliance
WaterNow Alliance
Wissahickon Trails