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NMI, USVI decry ‘unfair’ provisions of water act
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Posted on Dec 24 2004
The highest official of the U.S. Virgin Islands has called for collective action among U.S. jurisdictions in the Pacific to pursue amendments to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
Replying to an Aug. 20 letter by Gov. Juan N. Babauta, U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Charles W. Turnbull expressed agreement that the current language of the SWDA “puts our jurisdictions at a disadvantage with respect to funding allocations.”
“I suggest that we organize a task force of technical personnel and legal counsels from each jurisdiction in order to establish the best possible approach to carry out our neutral objective to pursue changes in the federal SDWA,” Turnbull said.
Turnbull cited that Section 300j-12 of the act, which directs the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to enter into agreement with eligible states to make capitalization grants, including letter of credits, “to further the health protection objectives [of this act].”
However, another provision of the act limits the term “state” to the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, for purposes of Section 300j-12.
Due to the unequal treatment of all territories in the act, U.S. jurisdictions in the Pacific were allotted less than $3 million for the combined 2001 and 2002 fiscal years based on the provisions of the SDWA, Turnbull said.
The jurisdictions applied for over $25 million to fund needed capital improvement projects during the same period, he noted.
“The current allotments for ‘other areas’, referring to American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the [CNMI], obviously do not provide the sufficient funds needed.
“In view of this, we concur that all territories should be treated fairly as the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for the funding purposes of this act. Increased funds will indeed enable us to provide adequate services to our community which will yield better public health,” Turnbull said.
