Water and Wastewater Infrastructure needs

As part of the 2011 NH ASCE Infrastructure Report Card update, it was reported that infrastructure investment for water and wastewater infrastructure within the state was about $1 billion each. It is hard for an average citizen to imagine this amount of investment is needed when our water and wastewater systems seem to work fine. 

The issues are exemplified when considering that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been reviewing environmental impacts to the Squamscott River and the Great Bay Estuary reportedly being caused by elevated nitrogen levels. Discharges from wastewater treatment plants in communities including Rochester, Dover, Portsmouth, Durham (including UNH), Newmarket and Exeter may be required to meet more stringent nitrogen constraints. The EPA has estimated the upgrades could cost over $250 million dollars.

Upgrades to water and wastewater facilities have been funded by the EPA's State Revolving Fund (SRF) program, but currently there has been a lack of political will to reauthorize this program. The program took a $1 Billion dollar cut between FY 2010 and FY 2011.

Of particular interest in the bills of the 112th congress is the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Investment Act of 2011 (HB 1802/S 939). Exempt Facility Bonds (EFBs), also known as private activity bonds are tax incentives that encourage private investment in public infrastructure. Unfortunately federal tax laws have historically limited he amount of EFB debt that can be issued to a state. Competing with other infrastructure projects within the cap, water and wastewater projects only amounted to about 1.3% of the EFB issued. this bill would exempt EFB investment in water and wastewater projects from the state EFB cap.

This is not a magical solution, but it does make billions of investment dollars available to water and wastewater infrastructure invests.

Special thanks to the National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA) for information on HB 1802.

The Case of the Missing Garbage

The Sunday Concord Monitor reported that since the City of Concord implemented their pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) solid waste program, the combined total of solid waste and recycled material has dropped by about one third. There are a number of theories about the cause of the reduction in material including a reduction of out-of-town trash left on the curb in Concord, trash abandoned in the woods, more waste directed to adjacent towns, an overall reduction of goods during a recession or yard waste and leaves being directed out of the waste stream.

The City has not seen an increase in solid waste being left on the roadside and regional solid waste facilities are also experiencing a decline. The EPA noted that this reduction is common in areas where a PAYT program is implemented.

Solid Waste was an important part of the ASCE Report Card. Statewide the recycling rate has struggled to exceed 30 percent of the overall solid waste stream. The state is currently on track to use up our available permitted landfill capacity within the next decade.

The Concord story reported that over the last two years, Concord’s recycling rates have increased by over 52 percent to approximately 34 percent (up from about 16 percent prior to the program) and solid waste had been reduced by over 180 percent. Statewide the legislature had set a goal of 40 percent recycling by the year 2000, so although Concord is a success story for the two year program and is now exceeding the 30 percent statewide average, there is still room for improvement.

Thanks to Ben Leubsdorf of the Concord Monitor for his important article on our state’s infrastructure.

How does the new State Budget affect the State’s Infrastructure?

It will take some time to fully digest the impacts of the State budget on the state’s infrastructure. Two of the obvious impacts include the sunseting of the temporary $30 motor vehicle registration surcharge and what amounts to be a two year moratorium on the funding of new school infrastructure projects.

The money raised from the motor vehicle registration is directed to Department of Transportation and Department of Safety operations and betterment funding which includes the paving of State roads and the rehabilitation and reconstruction of municipal bridges. These funds help remove municipal bridges from the municipal red list.

The Department of Transportation recommends the overlaying of about 500 miles of road each year. This puts the state roads on about a five year maintenance cycle effectively preserving this critical asset. The funding in recent years has only allowed for approximately 250 miles per year with the exception of the year 2010 which was bolstered by the stimulus package and allowed for about 750 miles to be paved.

Roads need to be managed as an asset. We may think the decisions to invest in our infrastructure are like a decision to buy a new coat. With this type of purchase, we may decide to tighten our belt and wait until next year to make the purchase without any ramifications. The cost of the coat is really not different from one year to the next.

Infrastructure investment is more like a decision to fix a leaking pipe. Each year the pipe is not fixed, the damage increases geometrically. In very rough numbers, the cost of overlaying a two lane road is about $100,000 per mile. If the maintenance is deferred to the point where more than an overlay is needed, the cost of rehabilitation quickly rises to about $500,000 per mile.

Attendees at the legislative breakfast would have heard many references to the Sewall’s Falls Bridge in Concord. It is likely that the reconstruction of this bridge will be one of the many projects that may be delayed as a result of sunseting the motor vehicle surcharge.

Also part of the budget, school infrastructure projects already underway will continue to receive funding, but no new projects will be funded during the two year budget cycle. This is in addition to a moratorium on new funding that had already been in place for the last year.

The budget will impact many state programs and it will take some time to fully understand the full effects, but it will be critical for us to continue to keep the needs of the infrastructure at the forefront of the discussion. A well maintained infrastructure is vital to the state’s economy.