The U.S. Department of the Interior appropriation bill, H.R. 2996, has already passed the U.S. House of Representative with “overall increases in environmental funding” for the insular areas, which include the Northern Marianas, Sablan said.
The bill, which is now in the U.S. Senate, will provide the CNMI with $944,000.
Sablan said the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund of $1.4 billion has increased by $614 million from fiscal year 2009, while the Clean Water State Revolving Fund increased from $1.6 billion last fiscal year to $2.3 billion.
This will mean proportional increases to the CNMI, Sablan said.
The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. needs funding for the improvement and modification of its water and wastewater system as demanded by federal stipulated orders.
CUC said it needs $2 million to comply with the stipulated orders this year.
It has applied for grant assistance through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or the federal stimulus package.
