Washington D.C. — Today, Representative Scott Peters (CA-50) and U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) led a request to congressional leadership of both parties for additional funds to repair and upgrade the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant in any upcoming emergency disaster funding package. Their bipartisan letter was signed by 13 congressmembers, including Senator Laphonza Butler (D-CA) and San Diego area Representatives Juan Vargas (CA-52), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), and Mike Levin (CA-49).

The authors led a similar request last year and secured President Biden’s inclusion of the request in his proposed domestic supplemental package. Following that request, members secured an additional $156 million for the International Boundary and Water Commission’s (IBWC) construction budget this year —  most of which will be spent at the broken plant.

In their letter addressed to Speaker Mike Johnson, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the members state, “In 2021, the San Diego Congressional delegation secured $300 million in the United States-Mexico- Canada Agreement (USMCA) to fund an expansion of the SBIWTP from 25 million gallons per day (mgd) to 50 mgd. This funding, in combination with Fiscal Year 2024 funding, has supported the planning, study, and design of projects critical for the rehabilitation and expansion of SBIWTP. However, last year we learned that significantly more funding is needed to rehabilitate the plant before the IBWC can expand the plant. These new costs jeopardize the United States’ ability to fulfill its international obligations under the treaty known as Minute 328.”

And they concluded, “Securing emergency funding is crucial to rehabilitate and expand the plant in order to protect public health and the environment, and to stop the economic damage cross-border sewage flows have had on our communities for far too long. For these reasons, we are requesting the highest amount of funding possible for IBWC in any supplemental package or budget deal in order to address deferred maintenance and expand capacity at SBIWTP.”

The letter was also signed by:  Representatives Dan Crenshaw (TX-2), Derrick Van Orden (WI-3), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Adam Schiff (CA-30), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), and Grace Napolitano (CA-31).

Full text of the letter here and below:

Dear Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Speaker Johnson, and Leader Jeffries:

We write to urgently request full funding for the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant (SBIWTP) in any upcoming disaster supplemental package.

The State Department’s International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) operates a federal owned water treatment facility, the SBIWTP, along the San Diego-Tijuana border to treat the transnational flow of polluted water. Years of underinvestment have reduced the SBIWTP’s capacity to treat the toxic effluent it receives, resulting in the discharge of treated and untreated stormwater and wastewater into the ocean. As a result, tides carrying polluted water into San Diego degrade the environment, disrupt U.S. Navy and border security operations, and threaten the local economy.

In 2021, the San Diego Congressional delegation secured $300 million in the United States-Mexico- Canada Agreement (USMCA) to fund an expansion of the SBIWTP from 25 million gallons per day (mgd) to 50 mgd. This funding, in combination with Fiscal Year 2024 funding, has supported the planning, study, and design of projects critical for the rehabilitation and expansion of SBIWTP. However, last year we learned that significantly more funding is needed to rehabilitate the plant before the IBWC can expand the plant. These new costs jeopardize the United States’ ability to fulfill its international obligations under the treaty known as Minute 328.

Securing emergency funding is crucial to rehabilitate and expand the plant in order to protect public health and the environment, and to stop the economic damage cross-border sewage flows have had on our communities for far too long. For these reasons, we are requesting the highest amount of funding possible for IBWC in any supplemental package or budget deal in order to address deferred maintenance and expand capacity at SBIWTP. Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Background:

Representative Peters has, for years, worked to address the cross-border pollution that’s fouling San Diego’s coastal waters, including pushing for additional funding to fix and expand the dilapidated South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant (SBIWTP). The following are some recent actions:

2024

1. In January, Rep. Peters took to the House floor to demand that the President’s requested $310 million to fix and expand the dilapidated SBIWTP be included in any upcoming spending deal.
2. In February, Rep. Peters joined members of San Diego’s Congressional delegation to ask U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro about the effects of cross-border pollution on Navy operations.
3. In March, Rep. Peters celebrated the inclusion of $156 million, at his request, for the International Boundary and Water Commission’s (IBWC) construction budget in the Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations bill. The IBWC is the federal agency tasked with operating and maintaining the SBIWTP.
4. In May, Rep. Peters joined Rep. Veronica Escobar (TX-16) in a bipartisan request for $278 million for the IBWC’s construction budget in the Fiscal Year 2025 Appropriations bill.
5. In August, Rep. Peters hosted Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma on a tour of the broken wastewater treatment plant.
6. Earlier this week, Rep. Peters joined members of San Diego’s Congressional delegation to reiterate their call for a federal state of emergency declaration amid high levels of toxic gases.

2023

1. In June, Rep. Peters led a letter with other members of the San Diego Congressional delegation to the governor of Baja California urging accountability for the Mexican government’s commitments to build wastewater treatment infrastructure.
2. In July, members of the San Diego congressional delegation requested that the Environmental Protection Agency assist with directing environmental justice funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act to help stop the flow of pollutants and urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to tour the broken plant.
3. Also in July, they sent a letter to President Biden and submitted an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, calling on the administration to declare this crisis a federal emergency.
4. In August, he led two letters to the Office of Management and Budget and to OMB and the State Department, calling for urgent additional funding to confront this crisis. 
5. In September, he proposed an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2024 Interior, Environment, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill to boost U.S.- Mexico Border Water Infrastructure Grant Program funding. Additionally, he proposed two amendments to the Fiscal Year 2024 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill to boost annual construction funding to the USIBWC to $100 million.
6. In October, Rep. Peters led a bipartisan letter to the Department of State demanding a full account of how the SBIWTP fell into such a severe state of disrepair.
7. In December, he led a letter urging leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate to include President Biden’s $310 million supplemental budget request to repair the SBIWTP in any upcoming funding package.

In previous years, Peters along with colleagues, has secured funding, introduced legislation, called for investigations, and arranged a visit by EPA Administrator Regan in response to the wastewater contamination crisis. 

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