|
House Authorizes $14 Billion For Sewage Treatment Plant Construction
Despite a White House veto threat, the House approved a bill today that authorizes $14-billion over four years for sewage treatment plant construction around the country. The bill is the first reauthorization of the Clean Water Act state revolving fund program to clear the House since 1995.
The margin of the vote, 303-108, exceeds the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. Before approving the bill, lawmakers rejected a proposed amendment that would have deleted a requirement that Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wages would apply to projects built with the SRF aid.
The White House Office of Management and Budget said in a March 8 statement that President Bush's "senior advisors" would recommend that he veto the bill. The statement objected to the measure's Davis-Bacon provision and also called the bill's funding levels "excessive" and "unrealistic in the current fiscal environment."
The $14-billion, four-year measure was scaled back from a $20-billion, five-year version that the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved Feb. 7.
There has been no action yet in the Senate.
McGraw-Hill Construction Analytics |
