The National Assn. of Water Companies (NAWC) announced its support for the report, Public-Private Partnerships: Balancing the Needs of the Public and Private Sectors to Finance the Nation’s Infrastructure, released by the Transportation and Infrastructure Panel of the U.S. House of Representatives.
“This report calls attention to the unique advantages and opportunities for public-private partnerships to accelerate investment and promote operational efficiency for water and wastewater infrastructure projects in the public sector,” said Michael Deane, executive director of NAWC.
In the wake of last week’s WaterWorks Initiative by the Value of Water Coalition and the President’s Infrastructure Investment Summit at the U.S. Treasury Department, Deane considers this report a strong example of the kind of collaboration necessary to dramatically transform the nation’s aging water and wastewater infrastructure.
Deane also agreed with the report’s view that Congress needs to “appropriately incentivize” a private water partner to ensure the long-term sustainability of water and wastewater systems, noting that federal limitations on tax-exempt bonds for public-private water and wastewater projects must be removed to give municipalities certainty that private activity bonds (PAB) are available for innovative water projects.
“The use of PABs spurs capital investment in public projects for upkeep and construction and investors prefer PABs because interest accrues tax-free,” Deane said. If Congress and the Administration were to remove the volume cap for PABs on water and wastewater projects it could support up to 142,500 jobs with $400-500 million in increased state and local tax revenue.
Private sector capital is a viable option to finance water and wastewater infrastructure and more municipally-owned water and wastewater utilities should factor this into future planning. Today more than 2,000 communities across the nation benefit from water-related public-private partnerships.
“In addition to providing access to capital and flexible financing models, the private water sector also brings innovative solutions to complex water and wastewater infrastructure challenges by collaborating with the public sector to share expertise, discipline and accountability for a project,” Deane said.
Source: National Assn. of Water Companies
