(AGENPARL) – gio 02 maggio 2024 Issued: May 2, 2024 (11:13am EDT)
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Biden-Harris Administration Announces Over $152 Million for Pennsylvania Lead
Pipe Replacement to Advance Safe Drinking Water as Part of Investing in
America Agenda
EPA announces latest round of funding toward President Biden’s commitment
to replace every lead pipe in the nation, protecting public health and helping
to deliver safe drinking water
PHILADELPHIA – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced
over $152 million from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to help
Pennsylvania identify and replace lead service lines, preventing exposure to
lead in drinking water. Lead can cause a range of serious health impacts,
including irreversible harm to brain development in children. To protect
children and families, President Biden has committed to replacing every lead
pipe in the country. Today’s announcement, funded by the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law and available through EPA’s successful Drinking Water
State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), takes another major step to advance this work
and the Administration’s commitment to environmental justice. This funding
builds on the Administration’s Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan and EPA’s
Get the Lead Out Initiative.
Working collaboratively, EPA and the State Revolving Funds are advancing the
President’s Justice40 Initiative to ensure that 40% of overall benefits from
certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are
marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. Lead exposure
disproportionately affects communities of color and low-income families. The
total funding announced through this program to date is expected to replace up
to 1.7 million lead pipes nationwide, securing clean drinking water for
countless families.
“Across our region, states are getting boosts from the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law that will improve lives, strengthen communities, and
protect our most vulnerable populations,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional
Administrator Adam Ortiz. “This funding brings us much closer to replacing
all lead service lines throughout the nation.”
“The Pennsylvania constitution guarantees the right to clean drinking water,
but lead pipes pose critical health concerns to families across the
Commonwealth,” said U.S. Senator Bob Casey (PA). “Thanks to the
infrastructure law, Pennsylvania will receive yet another round of funding to
replace dangerous lead service lines. With this funding, we are restoring
trust in our water supply, so that no family needs to think twice about
drinking from the tap.”
“It’s just commonsense that we need to provide clean drinking water to all
communities in Pennsylvania and across the country,” said U.S. Senator John
Fetterman (D-PA). “President Biden understands this. That’s why he’s
prioritized investing in water infrastructure. These federal dollars will
ensure that more forgotten communities across the commonwealth will have
access to safe and quality drinking water.”
“I proudly voted for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and I’m
pleased to see the Biden-Harris Administration once again using this law to
deliver much-needed funding for Pennsylvania,” said Congressman Dwight Evans
(PA-3).
“Every Pennsylvanian should be able to turn on the tap and know that their
drinking water is safe,” said Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-5).
“I’m glad to see another wave of clean water infrastructure funding made
possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law flowing into Pennsylvania to
protect our children and families from lead in drinking water.”
“Americans have a right to safe drinking water,” said Congressman Brendan
Boyle (PA-2). “I voted for this infrastructure funding to begin the process of
replacing thousands of miles of lead pipes in the State of Pennsylvania and
across the nation. Philadelphia is home to some of the state’s oldest water
service lines. I welcome this lead pipe replacement effort from President
Biden and commend him on leading the way to safer and healthier water through
his Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan.”
“Removing lead pipes is about protecting kids and making sure that all of
our communities have safe, clean drinking water folks can count on,” said
Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17). “With this $152 million investment for
lead pipe removal across the Commonwealth, President Biden’s Infrastructure
Law is once again stepping up to improve our health and safety.”
President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests a historic $15
billion to identify and replace lead service lines. The law mandates that 49%
of funds provided through the DWSRF General Supplemental Funding and DWSRF
Lead Service Line Replacement Funding must be provided as grants and
forgivable loans to disadvantaged communities, a crucial investment for
communities that have been underinvested in for too long. EPA projects a
national total of 9 million lead services lines across the country, based on
data collected from the updated 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey
and Assessment. The funding announced today will be provided specifically for
lead service line identification and replacement and will help every state and
territory fund projects to remove lead pipes and reduce exposure to lead from
drinking water.
The Lead Service Line-specific formula used to allot these funds allows states
to receive financial assistance commensurate with their need as soon as
possible, furthering public health protection nationwide. The formula and
allotments are based on need — meaning that states with more projected lead
service lines receive proportionally more funding.
Alongside the funding announced today, EPA is also releasing a new memorandum
that clarifies how states can use this and other funding to most effectively
reduce exposure to lead in drinking water. Additionally, EPA has developed new
outreach documents to help water systems educate their customers on drinking
water issues, health impacts of lead exposure, service line ownership, and how
customers can support the identification of potential lead service lines in
their homes.
To view stories about how the unpreceded investments from the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law are transforming communities across the country, visit
EPA’s Investing in America’s Water Infrastructure Story Map. To read more
about some additional projects that are underway, see EPA’s recently
released Quarterly Report on Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funded Clean Water
and Drinking Water SRF projects and explore the State Revolving Funds Public
Portal.  
Today’s allotments are based on EPA’s updated 7th Drinking Water
Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment (DWINSA) including an assessment of
newly submitted information. To date, this is the best available data
collected and assessed on service line materials in the United States. Later
this summer, EPA will release an addendum to the 7th DWINSA Report to Congress
which will include the updated lead service line projections. EPA anticipates
initiating data collection, which will include information on lead service
lines, for the 8th DWINSA in 2025.
For more information, including state-by-state allotment of 2024 funding, and
a breakdown of EPA’s lead Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, please visit
EPA’s Drinking Water website.
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