Urban Impacts of EPA's Construction Grants Program

The massive expenditures under the EPA’S Construction Grants Program could have significant impacts on local populations and development, especially since Construction Grants projects are not required to consider actions to mitigate resulting secondary impacts. Many opportunities to use wastewater facility construction to complement other local objectives are underutilized because meeting water quality improvement requirements is the only objective used in planning of Construction Grants projects. The reluctance of many cities to undertake wastewater facility construction results from local priorities for capital investments, not from an absolute inability to pay. No correlation between current fiscal condition and total per capita wastewater facility needs was found.