H.R. 720, the Water Quality Financing Act passed the House floor 303-108, on Friday, March 9th. This legislation would reauthorize the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund, which provides vital funds to state and local governments to fix crumbling water infrastructure. The bill would reauthorize the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund at $14 billion over four years to help close the existing gap between current spending levels and wastewater infrastructure needs.

Twenty-one environmental groups, including CWN member organizations National Wildlife Federation, NRDC, Audubon, US PIRG and American Rivers, have produced a budget blueprint outlining their priorities and recommendations for the federal government's FY08 budget. The Green Budget addresses repeated funding cuts that have plagued many important environmental initiatives in recent years.

Press Release

EPA Commits $10 Million to Protect the Nation's Beaches

Thirty states and five territories will share $10 million in grants for beach water-quality monitoring and public notification programs, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on January 9th. Beach water-quality monitoring helps local authorities identify what steps to take to reduce pollution and can lead to advisories or closures when bacteria concentrations reach unhealthy levels.

This Monday (November 27th) was the deadline for submitting comments to the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) regarding its proposed new package of nationwide permits (NWPs) pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The Network provided members with templates and other resources to help them submit their own comments. The comments submitted by the Kentucky Resources Coalition (see attached) is one example.