PumpBlogs 
When will the stimulus package provide the relief it promised?
It was not a shocking newsflash when U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden acknowledged in a recent CNN report (July 6, 2009) that the $787 billion economic stimulus program has not yet provided the positive impact originally predicted by the White House. “We misread how bad the economy was,” Biden told CNN correspondent Julian E. Zelizer.
One big criticism is that the stimulus plans were unclear until after the bill was passed and that implementation has been flawed, according to the CNN report. Only a small percentage of the funds have been spent.
The biggest concern for the pump industry, according to experts I’ve spoken with directly, is the Buy American clause. WWEMA Chairman Dave Angelo stated in his association’s March/April 2009 newsletter that the big question and the source of much confusion is what does “produced in the U.S.” really mean? According to the Office of Management and Budget’s latest guidelines, a manufactured good produced in the United States is one that has been “processed into a specific form or shape; or combined with other raw material to create a material that has different properties than the properties of the individual raw materials.”
Angelo says, “Now, doesn’t that clear up the confusion?”
WWEMA has fought to keep grant money out of the equation in order to protect manufacturers that produce high quality products and know how to offer value. Angelo insists that Federal handouts have never been a good solution. “Our industry needs to move away from reliance on the federal government and become more self reliant through full cost of service rates,” he said. “While no one wants to pay more for services, necessity does drive innovation. Paying for the full cost of water will certainly create awareness with the general public and that will ultimately drive the overall costs down either through more productive use of water or through innovation.”
Pumps & Systems will continue to cover this issue, and we hope to soon find positive news to share. Look for the September issue for a report on a project partially funded by stimulus money! The October issue will feature a special section on our aging infrastructure.
Please give us some feedback on how the stimulus package is affecting your business.
Tags: infrastructure, stimulus, wastewater, water
August 25th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Maybe I can help get us closer to the answer to the question everyone’s asking. I did some digging around St. Louis and spent an afternoon with the Operations Manager of one of the treatment plants nearby. Out of 300 pump stations plus the primary lift station he is responsible for, he has outlined projects that impact most or all of the equipment in 28 pump stations. The overall package was due to the reviewing organization by Aug 1. Once they get the rubber stamp and they know how much money they will have, they would complete the engineering and begin issuing PO’s to the contractors and OEM’s (depending on the project) third quarter next year. Next, we will have to apply an element of time depending on where you are in the channel by the time you see the order, and so on.
A quick comment on the Buy American clause. Thinking about how pumps and motors are shipped to the site are important to the overall compliance to the Buy American clause. You may be buying a pump from an american manufacturer, but if the Vertical pump is shipped in two sections (Pump and Motor), then both items must meet the criteria. This is an important distinction over horizontal pump applications. Last, I have been asked about content in our products we supply. It is our understanding that there is no contect obligation in the clause.