EPIC Applauds EPA and USDA’s Closing America’s Wastewater Access Gap Community Initiative to Support Onsite Wastewater Systems in Disinvested Communities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 2, 2022

MEDIA CONTACT: Maureen Cunningham 

maureen@policyinnovation.org;  (518) 469-4748‬

Ensuring that all US households have access to clean water and sanitation requires investment in onsite wastewater treatment systems, which nearly twenty percent of America’s households depend on. But only about two percent of federal wastewater dollars have been invested to support these systems to date. The Closing America’s Wastewater Access Gap Community Initiative–announced today by the White House, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)–will help ensure federal funding reaches more communities and households in need. 

“Failing backyard septic systems are a problem that no one should have to deal with in this country,” said Maureen Cunningham, Director of Water at EPIC. “The Biden-Harris administration’s new initiative will help ensure that we do not miss this critical opportunity to invest in onsite systems - which are a critical component of advancing equity and building community resilience.”

For more information on the need to invest in onsite wastewater treatment systems, please see the Environmental Policy Innovation Center’s report released yesterday, Investing in America’s Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems for Equity and Sustainability.

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The Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) builds policies that deliver spectacular improvement in the speed and scale of environmental progress. A nonprofit start-up, EPIC focuses on water, endangered species, and environmental markets. Visit us at https://www.policyinnovation.org/ and follow us on Twitter @EPIConservation.