The U.S. EPA announced over $6.5 billion for drinking water upgrades nationwide through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF).
EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said that, the total appropriation of the base DWSRF funding did not change between FY 2022 and FY 2023. However, the amount of funding available to states decreased due to an increase in Community Grants spending for FY 2023.
“Every community deserves access to safe, clean drinking water,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Thanks to President Biden’s historic infrastructure investments in America, we have an unprecedented opportunity to revitalize America’s drinking water systems, support the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of removing 100% of lead pipes across our country, and protect communities from PFAS pollution.”
The DWSRF allotments to states are based on the results of EPA’s 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment (DWINSA).
The survey, which is required by the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act, assesses the nation’s public water systems’ infrastructure needs every four years and the findings are used to allocate DWSRF grants to states. The survey found that drinking water utilities need $625 billion in infrastructure investments over the next 20 years to ensure the nation’s public health, security, and economic well-being.
“Environmental injustice has allowed drinking water infrastructure failures to proliferate in communities like Rockford,” said U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (IL). “Thankfully, with the help of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, almost $330 million is being brought home to Illinois to confront a monumental task: to ensure our communities know and trust their water is safe to drink. Rockford will finally be able to implement their plans to improve the lives of their residents and I look forward to collaborating with my colleagues to deliver more federal funding to communities like them.”
Almost $3 billion of the funding announced today will be provided specifically for lead service line identification and replacement.
At the direction of Congress, EPA’s 7th Drinking Water Assessment for the first time included a survey on lead service lines and is projecting a national total of 9.2 million lead service lines across the country. This best available national and state-level projections of service line counts will help advance a unique opportunity to employ a separate lead service line allotment formula for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law DWSRF Lead Service Line Replacement Funding that is based on need.
The state-by-state allocation of 2023 DWSRF funding can be found here.
