Make water infrastructure top ARPA funds priority, UCANE urges

BOSTON­--The Utility Contractors Association of New England (UCANE) on Thursday called on the Massachusetts Legislature to ensure that critical water and sewer infrastructure upgrades get the priority they need and deserve across the Commonwealth as legislators debate how to invest American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.

In testimony before the Senate and House Ways and Means Committees and the House Committee on Federal Stimulus and Census Oversight, Jeff Mahoney, executive director of UCANE, which represents 250 leading underground construction contractors and associated businesses, specifically encouraged legislators to use ARPA funds to:

• Increase funding available for the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust (CWT), the state agency that improves water quality throughout the Commonwealth by providing low-interest loans to municipalities and other eligible entities for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater projects
• Give the CWT the maximum possible flexibility to work with municipalities and regional water districts to address their unique needs, including the ability to direct funding to economically distressed areas that lack necessary water infrastructure that can attract long-term economic development
• Increase funding for the MassWorks Infrastructure Program (MassWorks), the competitive grant program that provides the Commonwealth’s largest and most flexible source of capital funds to municipalities and other eligible public entities for public infrastructure projects that support and accelerate housing production, private development, and new jobs.

UCANE President Marcella Albanese said: “Massachusetts communities have been facing a long-term funding crisis when it comes to investing what we need to invest in water and sewer infrastructure. ARPA stimulus funds present the best opportunity we’ve seen in years to finally get ahead of critically important, overdue maintenance and ensure people across the Commonwealth have safe, reliable water and sewer services and all the public health, environmental, and health benefits that come with them.”

In 2012, the Massachusetts Water Infrastructure Finance Commission projected that the Commonwealth was facing, over the following 20 years, a $10.2 billion shortfall in resources for drinking water and an $11.2 billion shortfall in resources for wastewater projects. In 2017, the Office of the State Auditor confirmed a 20-year water funding infrastructure gap of at least $18 billion.

At the same time, Massachusetts municipalities and regional water utilities face what many call a perfect storm of emerging new threats, including Nitrogen contamination of rivers, lakes and bays; dangerous per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contaminating water supplies; lead poisoning from old water supply pipes that need to be replaced; and growing stormwater threats caused by several weather associated with climate change. Massachusetts is home to more than 40,000 miles of drinking water and wastewater pipes, many of them decades old and long overdue for upgrades or replacements.

“Investing in our water infrastructure systems not only helps protects public health and our state’s beautiful natural environment, it’s a huge contributor to economic growth and jobs,’’ Mahoney said, citing a study by the UMass-Boston Collins Center for Public Policy, that found every $1 invested in water/wastewater infrastructure drives as much as $14 in increased taxes and $7 in private-sector investment.

“We appreciate the comprehensive and thorough approach that Massachusetts legislators, working with the governor’s administration, are taking to evaluating how best to invest ARPA funds,’’ Albanese said. “We’re respectfully reminding them that when it comes to water infrastructure, we can’t let out of sight mean out of mind. These investments are critical to Massachusetts’ residents health, our environment, and our economic growth and jobs.”

The Utility Contractors' Association of New England, Inc. (UCANE) is a trade association comprised of over 250 major contractors and associated business men and women who design, build, finance, insure, bond, and supply materials and equipment to the underground water and sewer construction industry. UCANE’s membership includes utility construction businesses of all sizes, ranging from large to small, family-owned companies, including both union and non-union companies and minority and women business enterprises.