Speaker 1: Water water everywhere, But how did it get so cheap?
Speaker 1: The answer is it's not. This week on Parts Pervilion,
Speaker 1: we're talking about water infrastructure and how to pay for
Speaker 1: it from Capitol Hill. Hello, and welcome once again to
Speaker 1: Parts per Billion, the environmental policy podcast from Bloomberg DNA.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, David Schultz, and we are coming to
Speaker 1: you from the Rayburn House Office building on Capitol Hill.
Speaker 1: And you know, before you go any further, I'm actually
Speaker 1: a little thirsty, so I'm going to take a sip
Speaker 1: from this drinking fountain right here. We tend to take
Speaker 1: that for granted that water is just going to come
Speaker 1: out of every fountain that we see, but it actually
Speaker 1: takes a lot of infrastructure, and that infrastructure takes a
Speaker 1: lot of money to make that happen. And that's what
Speaker 1: we're going to be talking about this week in the
Speaker 1: first in our series on water infrastructure and how to
Speaker 1: pay for it. And this week we're going to be
Speaker 1: talking with Paul Tonko, a Democrat who represents the Albany
Speaker 1: area in upstate New York, and he serves as the
Speaker 1: top Democrat on a key environmental sub committee in the House.
Speaker 1: So why don't we head up to his office and
Speaker 1: see what he has to say or so, Congressman Tonko,
Speaker 1: thank you for inviting me here to your office to
Speaker 1: talk about water. And one of the reasons why I
Speaker 1: wanted to talk to you is because, you know, water
Speaker 1: is something that we take for granted. You know, we
Speaker 1: assume it's going to come out of the tap and
Speaker 1: we just don't even think about it. But it really
Speaker 1: takes a lot to make sure that it's an equality
Speaker 1: that could be drinkable. Water is part of every life,
Speaker 1: and it's part of every job, and so it's important
Speaker 1: for us to make certain that our water supplies and
Speaker 1: the infrastructure delivering to home place and workplace are all
Speaker 1: in sound working order. So as to the numbers, EPA
Speaker 1: does assessments. Their fifth assessment was done in twenty thirteen,
Speaker 1: and it was a calculus there that from twenty eleven
Speaker 1: to twenty thirty, the country would require three hundred and
Speaker 1: eighty four billion dollars with a B in order to
Speaker 1: meet what is infrastructure demands. I know that that number
Speaker 1: went up significantly from it when the first assessment was
Speaker 1: made in nineteen ninety five, which was at one hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty seven billion. So the message there to all
Speaker 1: of us as policy makers and as budget architects is
Speaker 1: to get on with the business. Because when you back
Speaker 1: burner it, it doesn't go away. It actually you know,
Speaker 1: escalates as a price tag. So three hundred and eighty
Speaker 1: four billion, Where does that money come from? I mean,
Speaker 1: is that where when I pay my water bill, does
Speaker 1: it go toward that? Well, it's it's a compilation of sources.
Speaker 1: And the SRF, the State Revolving Fund, is part of
Speaker 1: the Clean Drinking Water Act, and it's the vehicle by
Speaker 1: which the fifty states receive federal dollars. It has not
Speaker 1: been reauthorized since its inception, and so for twenty one
Speaker 1: years now we have not reauthorized. My goal is to
Speaker 1: reauthorize and enhance the SRF. And the reason for the
Speaker 1: enhancement is that when you look at all the government
Speaker 1: contributions towards water efforts, towards construction, operations and maintenance, the
Speaker 1: federal government contributes over just over four percent. That is
Speaker 1: just a drop in the ocean, and it is unacceptable.
Speaker 1: There needs to be a stronger sense of partnership. I
Speaker 1: started my public service efforts at a county level back
Speaker 1: in the mid seventies, and I can tell you it
Speaker 1: was a much more lucrative revenue stream back then with
Speaker 1: the FEDS. And I'll contrast that, if you'll allow me,
Speaker 1: with roads and bridges, where that four and a half
Speaker 1: will be generous four and a half to four point
Speaker 1: seven percent contribution or the FEDS toward water is contrasted
Speaker 1: with roads and bridges at anywhere from twenty five to
Speaker 1: thirty percent. So this is a step child outcome for
Speaker 1: water infrastructure. Well, let's get into the politics of that.
Speaker 1: In other words, the why. So you know, the federal
Speaker 1: government has been contributing much more to roads and to
Speaker 1: bridges than to water, as you just mentioned. Why do
Speaker 1: you think that is? I've called it our hidden infrastructure.
Speaker 1: You know, you stop for a red light under an overpass,
Speaker 1: and you can browse around, and you'll note that just
Speaker 1: to the naked eye, there's great deficiency deterioration of that infrastructure.
Speaker 1: These bits of pipes, which might include bricks that are
Speaker 1: delivering your system of brick construct wooden pipes, I mean
Speaker 1: some wooden pipes. Yes, I did a tour, several tours
Speaker 1: in my district, and some of the systems are one
Speaker 1: hundred and forty five years old. So that goes back
Speaker 1: to the days of Brutherford behays in the White House.
Speaker 1: Think of it. You trade in your TV screen because
Speaker 1: it's simply not big enough. You get rid of your
Speaker 1: iPad or your iPhone because well, new technology is coming
Speaker 1: out every month. And you trade in your car because
Speaker 1: it either has too many miles or you got tired
Speaker 1: of the collar and worth content to sit with one
Speaker 1: hundred and forty five year old pipes. It is. It
Speaker 1: just doesn't begin to make sense. And I think because
Speaker 1: it's that hidden infrastructure, out of sight, out of mind,
Speaker 1: simply cannot be tolerated. Well, right now, you're in the
Speaker 1: minority party in the House, So how have you been
Speaker 1: able to gain traction throughout my county tenure as a
Speaker 1: county board member and throughout the Assembly years for me,
Speaker 1: which were twenty five in the state of New York,
Speaker 1: and now in my four plus terms in Congress, I've
Speaker 1: always reached across the aisle because I think it's important
Speaker 1: for us to build consensus in government. And actually we
Speaker 1: should mention that your counter part on the Environment Subcommittee,
Speaker 1: Representative shim Kiss, will actually be on a future episode
Speaker 1: of Parts Pavilion coming up in a few weeks. So
Speaker 1: that's super and it's a pleasure to work with Congressman
Speaker 1: shim Kiss. Chairman shim Kiss, And you know, John and
Speaker 1: I have you know, talked over meals. We go to
Speaker 1: sit down and talk about the Environment Subcommittee priorities, and
Speaker 1: I think that's helpful. And I think recently we held
Speaker 1: the hearing the subcommittee that reports to the Standing Committee
Speaker 1: of Energy and Commerce. That Committee on Environment recently held
Speaker 1: a hearing and it was a very very positive reinforcement
Speaker 1: by each of the witnesses at the table that more
Speaker 1: dollars are needed. Well, we've you know, finally we've talked
Speaker 1: about the problems with our water infrastructure and the needs
Speaker 1: that are out there and the small role that the
Speaker 1: federal government plays and how you would like that role
Speaker 1: to be much bigger. But where is the money going
Speaker 1: to come from? Because you know, they're only you know it.
Speaker 1: Do you increase taxes, do you increase the deficit? Bothes,
Speaker 1: where's the funding come from? Well, the President presented his
Speaker 1: budget to Congress, and I think a budget reflects the
Speaker 1: values of a community. In this case of a nation,
Speaker 1: the federal budget reflects our values and the public good.
Speaker 1: I would suggest that twenty two billion to build a
Speaker 1: wall that divides us from Mexico, which makes a terrible
Speaker 1: statement to the world, and a request for fifty four
Speaker 1: billion for additional spending on war are not the best priorities.
Speaker 1: And I think war and a wall should be displaced
Speaker 1: by health and home. Our civil engineers will remind me
Speaker 1: that and any of us that it's ten times cheaper
Speaker 1: to repair these systems before they break. And you know,
Speaker 1: part of our bill would allow for dollars to be
Speaker 1: utilized to retrofit systems so that you could pinpoint the
Speaker 1: weaknesses in the infrastrate structure. That's going to be a
Speaker 1: savings of ten times. So already you can gain a
Speaker 1: lot of benefit by implementing the program, passing the bill,
Speaker 1: and having the President sign it. Also, we, through leaking
Speaker 1: pipes on a daily basis, lose seven billion gallons of
Speaker 1: water per day. So that's why a thing you could
Speaker 1: drink absolutely and it's an investment, it has a taxpayer
Speaker 1: commitment because it's treated water. So here's ways to save
Speaker 1: the taxpayers money and build a system and at the
Speaker 1: same time establish it, affirm it in an affirmative way.
Speaker 1: Stake it as a high priority. I think it speaks
Speaker 1: to our values. I mean, ask the people in Flint
Speaker 1: what the price of doing nothing is. Representative Paul Tonko,
Speaker 1: Democrat from New York, talking about water infrastructure. As we
Speaker 1: mentioned at the top, this is the first in a
Speaker 1: series of episodes about the way we get our drink water.
Speaker 1: In a few weeks, we'll be hearing from Republican John Shimkiss.
Speaker 1: For more reporting on water quality issues and lots of
Speaker 1: other environmental topics, visit our website at BNA dot com.
Speaker 1: This episode of Parts Pavilion was produced by myself, with
Speaker 1: help from Jessica Coombs and Rachel Daegel, and with special
Speaker 1: production help this week from Meririssa Horn. The music for
Speaker 1: Parts Pavilion is a message by Jazzar. It was used
Speaker 1: under a Creative Commons Attribution share like license. More information
Speaker 1: can be found at Better with Music dot com.