An estimated 850 billion gallons of untreated or partially treated sewage are discharged annually from our sewer systems. These overflows contaminate water supplies with sewage, pathogens, solids, debris, and toxic pollutants. By 2016, the EPA estimates our nation's wastewater treatment plants may discharge pollutants at levels similar to those that existed in the mid-1970s, only a few years after the enactment of the Clean Water Act. By 2025, without significant new treatment capacity, pollution could exceed 1968 levels, the highest ever recorded.

H.R. 720, the Water Quality Financing Act, authorizes $14 billion for a new revolving fund to support states' water infrastructure projects. It also provides an additional $2 billion for three existing clean water programs at the EPA. On March 9, 2007, the House voted 303-108 to pass the bill (House roll call vote 135). YES is the pro-environment vote.