(AGENPARL) – gio 02 maggio 2024 Issued: May 2, 2024 (11:15am EDT)
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Biden-Harris Administration announces over $28 million for Rhode Island 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
BOSTON (May 2, 2024) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
announced $28,650,000 from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to
help Rhode Island 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.
“The science is clear, there is no safe level of lead exposure, and the
primary source of harmful exposure in drinking water is through lead pipes,”
said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “President Biden understands it is
critical to identify and remove lead pipes as quickly as possible, and he has
secured significant resources for states and territories to accelerate the
permanent removal of dangerous lead pipes once and for all.”
“Our goal is simple, yet essential: to assure that everyone has clean, safe
drinking water. That’s why identifying and replacing lead service lines is
crucial; it can protect our communities, especially the most vulnerable, from
lead exposure,” said EPA Regional Administrator David W. Cash. “New
England has some of the oldest housing stock in the country, and no one—no
matter where they live—should have to worry about lead in their drinking
water and what comes out of the tap. This funding from the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law provides the much-needed resources to help deliver on that
promise—to replace every lead pipe and ensure clean, safe drinking water for
all.”
“Replacing aging lead pipes is a serious public health priority for
communities across the nation, including here in Rhode Island. This new wave
of $28.65 million in federal funding for the Ocean State will put people to
work safeguarding the health of our communities and ensuring safe drinking
water for all,” said U.S. Senator Jack Reed, a member of the Appropriations
Committee who has championed initiatives to address lead hazards and eliminate
childhood lead exposure.
“Our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law continues to deliver significant upgrades
to Rhode Island’s water infrastructure,” said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.
“Lead poisoning is a completely preventable tragedy that can have lifelong
effects on a child. As we replace old lead pipes and service lines, more
families will have safe water from the tap and more kids will grow up
healthy.”
“Every Rhode Islander deserves access to clean drinking water, yet there are
still thousands of households in our state that receive their water through
lead service lines,” said Rep. Seth Magaziner. “This federal funding will
replace these dangerous lead pipes and upgrade our water infrastructure to
protect the health and wellbeing of communities across Rhode Island.”
“Toxic lead has no place in our water infrastructure,” said Congressman
Gabe Amo. “I’m proud Congressional Democrats passed the historic
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and that the Biden-Harris
Administration has invested more than $85 million total to replace every lead
pipe in Rhode Island. These are real dollars being put toward improving our
communities. I will continue to work alongside my colleagues in Rhode Island
and across the greater New England region who are committed to guaranteeing
safe drinking water in every home and every community.”
“All Rhode Islanders deserve access to drinking water that is healthy and
safe,” said Seema Dixit, the Deputy Director of the Rhode Island Department
of Health. “A collaborative approach in which the Federal government, the
State, and local water systems are all engaged is key to making this vision a
reality. We look forward to helping families and communities in Rhode Island
take advantage of this important opportunity.”
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.
The Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious initiative to remove lead pipes
has already delivered significant results for families across the nation.
Today’s latest funding will ensure more families benefit from these
unprecedented resources, and support projects like these:
The City of Providence has received $12,887,000 through the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law to replace lead service lines within the Providence Water
distribution area.
The City of East Providence has received $100,000 through the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law to identify and replace lead service lines as the City
installs new water meters throughout their service area.
To view more 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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