I heard that it is going to cost $1 trillion to replace the aging infrastructure in the U.S. How is this going to be financed and who will pay for it?
With 85% of the nation’s water serviced by public sector, the burden to finance the upgrades rests mainly on municipalities, local communities, and ultimately, state and local governments. The problem, however, is that the cost of water infrastructure replacement far exceeds the financial capabilities of local water utilities. Furthermore, money that has been earmarked towards building new infrastructure often gets diverted, aggravating the challenge. To assist, the government has set up funds to help finance the upgrades, such as the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which was established in 1987. The fund enables state and local governments to get low interest loans in order to fix aging water pipes. States are required to match funds they use by at least 20%. Additional measures have been proposed, such as The Water Quality Financing Act of 2007 (H.R. 720), which would commit $14 billion to communities for fixing their antiquated infrastructure. Finally, cities also have the option
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