Bush signs bill providing loans for water wells

WASHINGTON — President Bush signed a $190 billion farm bill that contains an amendment authorizing a program of loans to low-to-moderate-income households to help owners install, refurbish or service water well systems.

The amendment, the Affordable Drinking Water Act of 2001, was sponsored by industry groups such as the Water Quality Association, Lisle, IL, the trade organization for the point-of-use industry; and the National Ground Water Association, Westerville, OH, the nonprofit group that develops and exchanges knowledge and promotes the industry and resources of groundwater.

The provision authorizes $10 million for grants for fiscal years 2003 to 2007, and would have a maximum interest rate of 1 percent with a term of up to 20 years.

Though it makes up a very small portion of the farm bill, the water well funding is an important step in helping rural and semi-rural residents secure safe, affordable drinking water, said Dick Burke, member of the NGWA Board of Directors and chair of the Government Affairs Committee.

"The program will be a boon to low-to-moderate-income homeowners who want to responsibly utilize and maintain the quality water source in their own backyard," said Burke.

The Affordable Drinking Water Act of 2001 was introduced in July by Rep. John Boehner, R-OH, and its related bill in the Senate was sponsored by Sen. Rick Santorum, R-PA.

In October, the well bill was nearly scrapped when Bush opposed the larger bill, also known as the Agricultural Act of 2001, because it was too costly and premature because of "today's economic uncertainty," among other reasons, according to a White House statement.

The well provision survived, but another amendment intended to aid the environment was defeated.

Sponsored by Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-NY, and Ron Kind, D-WI, the amendment would have shifted $1.9 billion out of crop subsidies to pay for a large environmental portfolio, including a new program to protect wellheads and public water supplies from farm runoff.

The Agricultural Act of 2001 was approved by the Senate earlier this month and signed by Bush yesterday, 13 May. It will take effect at the start of fiscal year 2003, which begins 1 October.

The Senate has postponed at least three times the markup of a $35-billion water infrastructure bill, which would reauthorize the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act and boost the laws' major revolving loan accounts to fund infrastructure projects by billions of dollars.

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