Congressman Blumenauer is working to ensure the roads we drive on, the paths we bicycle on, the transit lines that take us to work, and the infrastructure that undergirds our way of life and our economic strength is safe, environmentally sustainable, and efficient.

Infrastructure Challenges

Water Infrastructure

Revitalizing America

Infrastructure Challenges

There are tremendous challenges to our national infrastructure.  Climate change, the aging of the baby boomers, and the movement to our nation’s cities are all putting different strains on our infrastructure, which has been too long neglected.  For instance, the American Society of Civil Engineers graded America’s civil infrastructure a D- and estimated that a $1.6 trillion investment is needed over the next five years to bring the nation's civil infrastructure to standard.  This is not just a problem for roads and bridges:

• By 2020, every major U.S. container port is projected to double its designed capacity.  Some West Coast ports will quadruple.
• Transit investment is falling while transit use is increasing faster than any other mode of transportation.

Water infrastructure also requires investment

Congressman Blumenauer has advocated increased spending on wastewater and drinking water infrastructure. He has been the keynote speaker to a number of water infrastructure organizations. In May, he addressed the National Clean Water Policy Forum, put on by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA).  In September, he addressed NACWA’s Clean Water America Awards Gala, celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Clean Water Act and expressing support for a trust fund.  In October, he spoke at a press conference to release a report written by the organization Food and Waterwatch highlighting the need for investment in water infrastructure and particularly a Clean Water Trust Fund. He has also convened a broad spectrum of stakeholders, experts, and organizations involved in wastewater and drinking water, water resources, and financing to focus on financing options for increased spending on water infrastructure.

In March, Congressman Blumenauer offered a successful amendment to the Water Quality Financing Act (which reauthorized the Clean Water State Revolving Funds) to prioritize funding towards existing water infrastructure needs. In October, the House passed Blumenauer’s resolution recognizing the 35th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act and committing Congress to, among other things, working towards “a sustainable, long-term solution to address the Nation's decaying water infrastructure.”

• There are 72,000 miles of sewer and water pipe that are over 80 years old.
• The EPA estimates that the funding gap for water infrastructure is $400 billion, but even so, the federal contribution to clean water spending shrank from 78% of total spending in 1978 to 3% today.

A new vision for revitalizing America

Building off the work of President Thomas Jefferson in 1808 with the Gallatin Plan, and the work of President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 with the National Conference of Governors, Congressman Blumenauer is calling for a national plan that will revitalize America’s communities, economy, and infrastructure.  Such a plan would allow the United States to meet the challenges posed by climate change, demographic changes, and underinvestment, and will keep America’s communities strong.  You can read more about Congressman Blumenauer's plan for Rebuilding and Renewing America here.