New Report: Small Towns and Communities of Color Less Likely to Receive Funding for Clean Water Infrastructure
New EPIC/NRDC Analysis Finds Inequities in Distribution of Federal Assistance
Aging and insufficient infrastructure to treat wastewater and manage stormwater plagues communities nationwide, but a new review of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) shows federal and state funds for clean water infrastructure are allocated unequally. Specifically, places with smaller populations and those with larger communities of color were statistically less likely to receive federal assistance needed to improve local wastewater and stormwater systems through the CWSRF from 2011 to 2020.
The analysis, co-authored by experts at the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) and NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), finds that funding decisions made by state agencies may perpetuate disproportionate environmental, socioeconomic, or health burdens, making it more difficult for small towns and communities of color to complete infrastructure improvements. Read the report: “A Fairer Funding Stream: How Reforming the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Can Equitably Improve Water Infrastructure Across the Country"
“Every community should get a fair shot at funding for clean water projects, but we found patterns of unfair distribution over the past decade. Many of the state policies that caused these inequities are still in place, so the billions of federal dollars now streaming into states from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law may not make it to communities that have been shut out, unless we reform the CWSRF to make it more effective for all,” said Rebecca Hammer, NRDC’s Deputy Director of Federal Water Policy and report co-author.
Systematic data on the types of communities that benefit from CWSRF funding have not been available to the public, making it difficult to assess whether the program is serving all communities equitably. To better understand the distribution of CWSRF funding, the authors analyzed information on CWSRF assistance from 2011 to 2020 and assessed the correlation between municipal characteristics and the likelihood of receiving a CWSRF award.
“This baseline analysis of how states have allocated federal funds for water infrastructure is pivotal,” said Dr. Katy Hansen, EPIC’s Deputy Director of Water and report co-author. “By measuring who benefits from CWSRFs, we hope to motivate and track progress toward environmental justice.”
Key Findings:
Communities of color often bear the greatest burden of inequitable access to clean water infrastructure and have the most severe need for CWSRF resources. However, our analysis found:
municipalities with larger white populations were more likely to receive CWSRF assistance;
An increase of 10 percent in the proportion of residents that identify as non-Hispanic white was associated with a 0.31-percentage-point increase in the likelihood of receiving an award.
Small towns often need federal financial support due to limited local funds, but they may face hurdles accessing assistance due to a lack of capacity. We found:
Municipalities with larger populations have a greater likelihood of receiving CWSRF assistance, indicating that state agencies may not be adequately helping small communities access funding.
However, our analysis also found that state CWSRF programs are more likely to direct funds to lower-income communities and those with more Clean Water Act violations. These results are consistent with the CWSRF program’s goal of investing resources in communities that need help upgrading infrastructure and coming into legal compliance. We found:
An additional $10,000 in median household income from the average was associated with a 1.45-percentage-point lower likelihood of receiving assistance.
Moving from zero to 1-10 water quality violations increased the likelihood of receiving an award by 8.7 percentage points on average; municipalities with more than 10 violations were even more likely to receive assistance.
Policy Recommendations:
Reforms to the CWSRF program at the state and federal levels can improve equitable access to clean water infrastructure funding.
Congress should continue to increase investment in the program to ensure that adequate funding is available for communities in need.
States should assign higher priority to projects in underserved communities, ensure that those projects qualify for the most favorable award terms, and distribute more funding in the form of grants or forgivable loans.
Program administrators must be more proactive in promoting the availability of these critical funds, coordinating with other sources of infrastructure funding and providing hands-on assistance to help communities apply.
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EPIC (Environmental Policy Innovation Center) builds policies that deliver spectacular improvement in the speed and scale of environmental progress. A nonprofit, EPIC focuses on water, restoration, endangered species, and environmental markets. Visit us at https://www.policyinnovation.org/ and follow us on Twitter @EPIConservation.
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.