Biden-Harris Administration’s New State Funding Distribution for Replacing Lead Pipes Based on Highest Need
April 4, 2023
MEDIA CONTACT:
Maureen Cunningham, Environmental Policy Innovation Center
maureen@policyinnovation.org, (518) 469-4748
Biden-Harris Administration’s New State Funding Distribution for Replacing Lead Pipes Based on Highest Need
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $6.5 billion in critical water infrastructure funding today, that will make our drinking water and communities safer. The EPA also released a new needs assessment that shows a 32 percent increase in the backlog for financing better water services.
The following is the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC)’s reaction to EPA’s announcement:
“America has a dark secret, and it’s the estimated 9.2 million toxic lead pipes carrying our drinking water,” said Maureen Cunningham, Chief Strategy Officer and Director of Water at the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC). “The administration fixed last year’s flawed process. This year, the states with the highest number of dangerous lead water pipes are getting the most money. This adjustment is critical to ensuring the nation’s poorest and most at-risk people have safe water to drink.”
Based on the new assessment, the total projected number of lead service lines in the country is 9.2 million across the country, with an additional 2.8 million galvanized lines. Florida now leads the country with an estimated 1,159,300 lead service lines, with Illinois coming in second with 1,043,294. Texas also is fifth in the country, with 647,640.
Starting in FY23, this updated allotment formula will be used to distribute the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) Base Appropriations, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) General Supplemental, the BIL Lead Service Line Replacement, and the BIL Emerging Contaminants funds. EPA used information collected in the 7th DWINSA on lead service line materials to develop a separate allocation formula to distribute the DWSRF BIL Lead Service Line Replacement fund. This is a significant development because it further prioritizes communities disproportionately impacted by exposure from lead lines.
Read the full FY23 DWSRF Allotment Memo here and the new state-by-state allocations here. The DWINSA factsheet is here and the FAQ is here.
Related EPIC Research and Resources:
EPIC launched this national map that showcases a state-by-state look at how the original funding based on the 6th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment (DWINSA) will impact the nationwide problem of lead service lines. We know the funding is not enough and needs to be blended with other funding sources, but this map gives us an idea of just how far this investment could go. We will now update this map with the new allocations announced today.
Earlier in the year, EPIC released a new report, From the ground up: A guide to replacing the nation’s toxic lead pipes over the next decade that highlights best practices in lead service line replacement. You can read the report here, and we talk about the allotment formula on page 38.
Read more about how EPIC views the upcoming Lead and Copper Rule compliance date and Bipartisan Infrastructure Act (BIL) funding in this interview with EPIC’s Chief Strategy Officer and Director of Water Maureen Cunningham in Water Management Magazine.
EPIC is partnering with waterloop on a podcast series called Funding to Fight Lead to discuss innovative financing for lead pipe replacement, with the first podcast featuring EPIC's Executive Director Tim Male.
To learn more about how states can strategically use set-aside funds to make the most of State Revolving Funds, read this blog by EPIC’s Senior Water Law & Policy Analyst, Janet Pritchard.
Congress appropriates around $2.5 billion per year for the State Revolving Funds (SRFs). However, Congress started to strip away some of these resources for earmarks. You can read more about our analysis of these earmarks in this blog by EPIC staff.
You can read more about one of our municipal partners, Dante Sawyer from the Village of Hazel Crest, and his hard work in developing his community's lead service line replacement program here.
EPIC is proud to be a founding member of the Biden-Harris Get the Lead Out Partnership of 123 municipalities, water utilities, elected officials, philanthropic organizations, labor unions, government officials, and nonprofit organizations. Read more about this partnership and its significance here.
EPIC’s Chief Strategy Officer and Director of Water Maureen Cunningham wrote about the nationwide problem of lead service lines in the article Lead Harms Red States Too, here.
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The Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) builds policies that deliver spectacular improvement in the speed and scale of environmental progress. EPIC focuses on water, endangered species, and environmental markets. Visit us at https://www.policyinnovation.org/and follow us on Twitter @EPIConservation.