National League of Cities: Congress Must Address Water Infrastructure

Michael Sesma, a member of the Gaithersburg, MD, city council, testified on behalf of the National League of Cities (NLC) behalf before the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Environment and Economy. He asked the committee to "lead and serve the country by addressing the underlying issue of aging infrastructure and unmet infrastructure needs. This effort will strengthen the intergovernmental partnership by enabling our cities and towns, our states, and country to meet the challenges and opportunities of leading the world into the next century."

Additionally, Sesma testified on the importance of local governments in implementing federal environmental protection programs, serving as implementers of state and federal environmental policies and programs and with authority over local land use, zoning, and code development. He highlighted areas where the federal-state-local partnership led to improved environmental protection. Specifically:

• Federalism consultation - Consulting with cities earlier and more frequently on projects reduces the burden on local governments in both cost and regulatory requirements.
• Regulatory review - Looking at old and outdated regulations that add to the cost and paperwork burdens of cities. 
• Integrated planning - Allowing local governments to identify opportunities to achieve the requirements of the Clean Water Act in an affordable manner.

 The full testimony can be found at http://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF18/20130215/100242/HHRG-113-IF18-Wstate-SesmaM-20130215.pdf. You can read the original NLC news release here→.