Description:
S. 692 would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promote green infrastructure (measures like landscaping or permeable pavement that reduce storm water flows into sewer systems or surface waters) by conducting outreach and training through the agency’s regional offices. The bill also would establish an Office of the Municipal Ombudsman within the EPA to provide technical assistance to municipalities seeking to comply with the Clean Water Act, to promote integrated planning as part of that act’s permitting process, and to disseminate information to eligible entities about the availability of financial assistance. Finally, the bill would direct the EPA to revise the factors that municipalities should consider when measuring the financial capability of households to pay for future investments in a community’s water infrastructure.
Based on an analysis of information provided by the agency, CBO estimates that implementing S. 692 would cost about $3 million per year for additional personnel and related administrative expenses to meet the bill’s requirements. In total, CBO estimates that the EPA would spend about $15 million over the 2018-2022 period; that spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
Enacting S. 692 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO estimates that enacting S. 692 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
S. 692 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
