Portland, Oregón – Oregon’s Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee, on which Merkley sits, has passed an Interior Appropriations bill including key provisions to keep Oregon communities safe with clean drinking water and to prepare for the possibility of a large scale Cascadia earthquake.
“This legislation will help fund water infrastructure projects so our schools and homes have clean water, and also make sure that Oregon is well prepared in the event of a Cascadia earthquake,” dijo Merkley. “We’ve seen over and over the price we pay by shortchanging our investments in our future. This bill makes important down-payments on our communities’ long-term safety.”
“Safeguarding clean water statewide and ensuring that all Oregonians are properly prepared for a Cascadia quake both rank as top priorities for public health and safety,” dijo Wyden. “This bill takes significant steps toward achieving those objectives that are so essential to our state’s well-being.”
Los elementos clave de la legislación aprobada hoy por el Senado que afectará a Oregón incluyen:
Clean Water Programs: $30 million for the Water Infrastructure Financing and Innovation Authority (WIFIA) that Senator Merkley has championed to help local communities finance safe drinking and wastewater infrastructure projects. This funding will help leverage $300 million in loans for water infrastructure.
In almost every town hall meeting that Senators Merkley and Wyden hold, in every corner of Oregon, they hear about the challenges that local communities are having finding funding to replace or upgrade aging water infrastructure. Clean drinking water and modern wastewater treatment systems are critical for public health and safety, strong local businesses, population growth, and clean rivers and aquifers. Incidents like the recent crisis in Flint, Michigan or the news of what is happening in Portland schools, underscore the dangers that can result when the safety of our drinking water and state of our water infrastructure are not made a priority. The bill also includes an increase of $113 million for the State Revolving Fund programs for water infrastructure.
Preparación para terremotos: The Senators were able to secure $8.2 million for the earthquake early warning system and $500,000 for seismic stations. They were also able to insert language that calls for more research and preparation in the event of a major Cascadia earthquake.
El proyecto de ley fue votado fuera del Comité de Asignaciones hoy. Los próximos pasos serían que el proyecto de ley se envíe al pleno del Senado para una votación en el pleno del Senado y, finalmente, se fusione con un proyecto de ley homólogo de la Cámara de Representantes de los EE. UU. para que ambas cámaras lo aprueben y se convierta en ley.
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