Supporting Local Control of Water Infrastructure Projects
Adopted at the 88th Annual Meeting in 2020
WHEREAS, as mayors, we have an obligation to protect public health, to use limited public resources in the most efficient manner possible, and to promote economic development; and
WHEREAS, local public and private engineers and water professionals also have an obligation to protect public health, to use limited public resources in the most efficient manner possible, and to promote economic development; and
WHEREAS, there are efforts at the federal level and in various states that would undermine these goals, supersede engineering judgment and impose new mandates on local communities; and
WHEREAS, the design of drinking water and wastewater systems is an inherently local process and local communities are in the best position to select infrastructure materials, as each community's needs are unique; and
WHEREAS, infrastructure materials all have different service lives, durability, reliability, economic, health and safety characteristics, and engineers and communities need to retain local control to select infrastructure materials based on factors important to the local community; and
WHEREAS, communities should remain free to adopt system-wide best management practices and uniform design specifications in the development and maintenance of their water systems to maximize efficiency and control costs; and
WHEREAS, restricting local control increases costs, interferes with sound engineering judgment, limits the ability of communities to manage their systems as efficiently as possible and delays projects,
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors supports local control of drinking water and wastewater systems and opposes federal and state policies that promote material preferences or otherwise undermine local autonomy for local water and wastewater infrastructure systems.