(AGENPARL) – gio 02 maggio 2024 Issued: May 2, 2024 (8:47am EDT)
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Biden-Harris Administration announces over $50 million for Massachusetts 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 $50,095,000 from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to
help Massachusetts 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.”
“Our Commonwealth has a high lead service line burden due to the age of our
housing stock, and we know lead exposure is an environmental justice issue, as
it disproportionately affects Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities,”
said Senator Edward J. Markey. “Massachusetts is receiving $50 million in
federal investment thanks to the landmark Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, but
we know much more is needed to identify and replace all remaining lead pipes
across the Commonwealth to ensure public health safety. We will keep fighting
to secure Massachusetts’ fair share from the Drinking Water State Revolving
Fund allocations.”
“Every family deserves access to clean drinking water, yet dangerous lead
pipes can still be found in homes across America — including right here in
Massachusetts’ Fifth District,” said Democratic Whip Katherine Clark. “The
health and safety of our communities should transcend partisan politics. Under
President Biden’s leadership, we’re putting that principle into action.
I’m proud to have helped secure this lifesaving investment in our
Commonwealth’s drinking water, and I will continue fighting until every
kitchen faucet runs clean and clear.”
“Next time you turn on the tap, remember that President Biden and House
Democrats passed a bipartisan bill delivering billions of dollars in
infrastructure funding to our communities to make sure that the water that
comes out of the faucet is some of the safest, cleanest drinking water on
Earth,” said Congressman McGovern. “Thank you to EPA Administrator Michael
Regan for using this funding to replace lead pipes in Massachusetts with
better, safer alternatives that deliver cleaner, lead-free drinking water to
every household.”
“No community should have to face the serious health risks of lead exposure. I
am thrilled to see Massachusetts will be receiving over $50 million from the
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund as
part of the national effort to remove all lead pipes in the U.S. This move
isn’t just an infrastructure upgrade, it is an investment in providing safer
and more equitable water access across the Commonwealth and for future
generations of Americans,” said Congressman Seth Moulton.
“Every family deserves access to safe, lead-free drinking water, and the
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is helping make that a reality for Massachusetts
families,” said Congresswoman Lori Trahan. “This federal investment will
help complete long overdue lead pipe replacements across the Commonwealth,
putting the health and wellbeing of families first.”
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:
Boston Water and Sewer Commission received $4,698,888 through the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law, including $1,879,555 in additional subsidy, to eliminate
lead water services in both the public way and private property.
The Fall River Water Department has received $4,150,000 through the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law, including $2,400,778 in additional subsidy, to replace 107
partial lead service lines in public-right-of-way and the public right-of-way
of 533 of existing full lead service lines.
The Methuen Water Department received $870,000 through the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law to develop an inventory of water service lines to identify
any lead service lines that would need replacement.
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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