NUCA Statement On Additional EPA Water Infrastructure Resources
The chief executive officer of the National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA), Doug Carlson, issued the following statement about the announcement by Vice President Kamala Harris and EPA Administrator Michael Regan to release $5.8 billion in new funding for clean water and wastewater infrastructure:
“This week’s announcement by the White House releasing details of $5.8 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for this industry’s two State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs is good news for many American communities.
“NUCA is very pleased to support the Administration’s release of this EPA funding to every U.S. state and territory, helping to share this life-giving investment in clean water to many more Americans. The $3.2 billion through the Drinking Water SRF and the $2.6 billion via the Clean Water SRF highlights the importance of these two EPA programs in providing clean drinking water, replacing harmful lead pipes, and improving or rebuilding America’s wastewater infrastructure. America’s utility construction industry is ready to use this money to build these investments in public health over the years and decades ahead.
“Congress should pay attention to this news and pass without delay Drinking Water SRF and Clean Water SRF funding in the long-stalled FY2024 EPA appropriations legislation to at least match FY23 levels. The $5.8 billion is barely a down payment needed over the next 15 years for the $473 billion to improve America’s drinking water infrastructure, or the more than $271 billion that is needed to maintain and replace our nation’s aging or obsolete wastewater and stormwater treatment systems. America is a very large nation that has built out over a century-and-a-half an incredibly complex and expensive subsurface water and wastewater system that was never designed to last forever. Those repair bills are coming due, so we applaud the Biden Administration for recognizing this fact in this EPA funding announcement.”
