Cohen: IGIA to look into federalization of CNMI water problem

Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary David Cohen yesterday said he would look into the proposal of Washington Rep. Pete A. Tenorio to federalize the CNMI’s water problem.

Cohen has been delegated by Interior Secretary Gale Norton to be the de facto head of the President Bush’s Interagency Group for Insular Areas. The Interior secretary heads the IGIA.

Bush created the IGIA to pool federal agencies’ resources to address public concerns from the insular areas.

“We’re certainly going to look at it,” Cohen said. “At the end of the day, we all want the same thing.”

EPA Pacific Islands Office manager John McCarroll said that Saipan is the only municipality in the U.S. that has no 24-hour water supply. He said the gap between funding and the need to address the problem has been growing. As such, he said the CNMI’s drinking water problem remains a top priority.

In his presentation at the conference Wednesday, McCarroll showed the wide disparity between federal funding to U.S. states and affiliated Pacific islands in connection with drinking water issues.

For fiscal year 2001, he said the federal government allotted over $7.78 million to the smallest U.S. state—over 1,500 percent higher than some $465,700 appropriated for the CNMI.

McCarroll also said about 16 percent of the CNMI’s households lack complete plumbing facilities. He said 45 percent of the CNMI’s residents do not have access to running water 24 hours daily.

Tenorio spoke before delegates to the 23rd Pacific Islands Environment Conference sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at the Dai Ichi Hotel Saipan Beach Wednesday, saying that the CNMI’s water problem is even worse than those of some Third World countries. He batted for support from federal agencies, including the IGIA.

According to Tenorio, realizing drinking water standards at par with the rest of the nation’s states and territories would be impossible without extensive federal help.

A study conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimated that Saipan alone would need some $91.45 million to carry out over 20 infrastructure projects. To include projects for Tinian and Rota, the CNMI will need close to $150 million.

Tenorio said he would submit to Congress a proposed legislation that would direct the Secretary of Interior to review the Army Corps study, which would be made in consultation with the secretaries of Agriculture and Defense and the EPA administrator.

Tenorio’s proposal would mandate the Interior Secretary to prepare and transmit to the U.S. House of Representatives’ committee on energy and natural resources a detailed comprehensive implementation plan for the CNMI’s water infrastructure needs no later than Feb. 1, 2005.

It would also task the Interior Secretary to identify funding limitations, such as those on allocations to territories and matching requirements, and identify necessary changes, if any, to effectively utilize federal agencies’ programs and expertise.

Both Cohen and Tenorio, however, recognized the efforts being undertaken by the CNMI Water Task Force, which aims to have a 24-hour drinking water supply on Saipan in two years’ time.