Letters

Two major bills that boost water infrastructure investment were unanimously reported out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee yesterday, a major step forward in ensuring that all communities have access to clean and safe drinking water, as well as healthy ecosystems, the Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition said. The bipartisan America’s Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2020 and Drinking Water Infrastructure Act of 2020 provide more than $4 billion in new funding for water infrastructure and almost $1 billion targeted at helping low-income, rural and tribal communities.

“This is a great start toward addressing some of the issues that have unfortunately prevented many in the Great Lakes region from accessing the basic need of clean drinking water,” said Laura Rubin, Director of the Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition. “The nation is facing a water infrastructure crisis. Communities are facing unsafe water from toxic pollutants like lead and PFAS, while seeing their water rates skyrocket. These federal investments are urgently needed to help provide clean and affordable drinking water to everyone – especially those people in communities which have historically borne the brunt of pollution and injustice. We urge the Senate to pass these bills now, because the longer we wait, the more costly and difficult these projects become.”

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition delivered a letter to Congress, which over 65 organizations signed, supporting key provisions in the bills such as:

• Increasing the authorization for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to $2 billion and incrementally up to $3 billion, to help communities fix, repair, and update wastewater systems.
• Providing $2.5 billion in additional funding to help communities fix, repair and update drinking water infrastructure.
• Ensuring that a minimum of 10 percent of federal funding through the clean water SRF and 14 percent of federal funding through the drinking water SRF are provided as grants or no-interest loans to help resolve water affordability problems in communities across the country.
• Tripling of grants, from $100 million to $300 million, to remediate toxic PFAS contamination, tackling a persistent threat to drinking water.
• Investing almost $1 billion in new water infrastructure investment in low-income, rural and tribal communities.
• Supporting lead-reduction projects in schools and communities.
• Increasing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative authorization from $300 million to $375 million.

The bills now head to the full Senate for consideration.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has urged the U.S. Congress to boost water infrastructure for the last several years, as water affordability and poor quality continues to plague communities across the region. Great Lakes cities such as Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit have seen water rates increase dramatically over the last ten years, in large part due to inadequate federal investment.

The U.S. EPA estimates that the Great Lakes states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin need more than $179 billion over the next 20 years to fix, update, and maintain their wastewater and drinking water infrastructure.

According to a Michigan State University report, if water rates continue to rise as they have, more than 35 percent of people in the United states will struggle to afford their water bills by 2022.

The post Bills to Inject $4 Billion in New Water Infrastructure Funding, Start Confronting Environmental Injustices appeared first on Healing Our Waters Coalition.

Original Article

Healing Our Waters Coalition

Healing Our Waters Coalition

https://healthylakes.org/bills-to-inject-4-billion-in-new-water-infrastructure-funding-start-confronting-environmental-injustices-2/

Pavan Vangipuram

Two major bills that boost water infrastructure investment were unanimously reported out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee yesterday, a major step forward in ensuring that all communities have access to clean and safe drinking water, as well as healthy ecosystems, the Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition said. The bipartisan America’s Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2020 and Drinking Water Infrastructure Act of 2020 provide more than $4 billion in new funding for water infrastructure and almost $1 billion targeted at helping low-income, rural and tribal communities.

“This is a great start toward addressing some of the issues that have unfortunately prevented many in the Great Lakes region from accessing the basic need of clean drinking water,” said Laura Rubin, Director of the Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition. “The nation is facing a water infrastructure crisis. Communities are facing unsafe water from toxic pollutants like lead and PFAS, while seeing their water rates skyrocket. These federal investments are urgently needed to help provide clean and affordable drinking water to everyone – especially those people in communities which have historically borne the brunt of pollution and injustice. We urge the Senate to pass these bills now, because the longer we wait, the more costly and difficult these projects become.”

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition delivered a letter to Congress, which over 65 organizations signed, supporting key provisions in the bills such as:

• Increasing the authorization for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to $2 billion and incrementally up to $3 billion, to help communities fix, repair, and update wastewater systems.
• Providing $2.5 billion in additional funding to help communities fix, repair and update drinking water infrastructure.
• Ensuring that a minimum of 10 percent of federal funding through the clean water SRF and 14 percent of federal funding through the drinking water SRF are provided as grants or no-interest loans to help resolve water affordability problems in communities across the country.
• Tripling of grants, from $100 million to $300 million, to remediate toxic PFAS contamination, tackling a persistent threat to drinking water.
• Investing almost $1 billion in new water infrastructure investment in low-income, rural and tribal communities.
• Supporting lead-reduction projects in schools and communities.
• Increasing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative authorization from $300 million to $375 million.

The bills now head to the full Senate for consideration.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has urged the U.S. Congress to boost water infrastructure for the last several years, as water affordability and poor quality continues to plague communities across the region. Great Lakes cities such as Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit have seen water rates increase dramatically over the last ten years, in large part due to inadequate federal investment.

The U.S. EPA estimates that the Great Lakes states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin need more than $179 billion over the next 20 years to fix, update, and maintain their wastewater and drinking water infrastructure.

According to a Michigan State University report, if water rates continue to rise as they have, more than 35 percent of people in the United states will struggle to afford their water bills by 2022

The post Bills to Inject $4 Billion in New Water Infrastructure Funding, Start Confronting Environmental Injustices appeared first on Healing Our Waters Coalition.

Original Article

Healing Our Waters Coalition

Healing Our Waters Coalition

https://healthylakes.org/bills-to-inject-4-billion-in-new-water-infrastructure-funding-start-confronting-environmental-injustices/

Pavan Vangipuram

ANN ARBOR, MICH. (April 9, 2020) – Congress must pursue a strategy that ensures its response to the COVID-19 crisis helps those who need it the most and sets our nation on a path to a strong, robust recovery, wrote 75 members of the Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition, in letters delivered to the US House and Senate today. They called for water service to be restored for those people who have had their service shut off as well as a moratorium of water shutoffs.

The letters call on Congress to institute a moratorium on water shutoffs and restoration of water services to those who have already had it shut off to ensure that no American is without the basic need of clean, safe water during this crisis. The letters also call for a broader strategy of water infrastructure and restoration investments, including the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, that ensure that the nation comes out of this crisis with a more secure water system, and that the cracks in our water infrastructure and delivery systems are repaired for the long term.

Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition Director Laura Rubin said:

“Clean water is a basic human need, and we must ensure that everyone has access to it. We must address the water insecurity crisis by focusing on inadequate federal investment. At a time when COVID-19 is ravaging communities across America, it is unconscionable that Americans are being cut off from the water they need to live and protect themselves from this terrible disease.

“But our response cannot stop at the immediate problem. Congress must look further and invest in water infrastructure and restoration projects that will help all our communities recover in a way that’s durable and long-lasting.”

The letters from the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition read:

“The federal government, working with state and local agencies, must require utilities to stop water shutoffs and safely restore water service to households that have lost it … Alarmingly, one nationwide assessment revealed that around 15 million Americans experienced a water shutoff – one out of every 20 households across the country. In Detroit, 112,000 people had their water shut off between 2014 and 2018. In 2017 alone, it has been estimated that one in ten Detroiters experienced a shutoff. Water shutoffs disproportionately impact cities with higher rates of poverty, unemployment, and people of color.

In addition, the letters continue, “Fixing our region’s failing infrastructure can put people to work and set the stage for economic revitalization in our towns and cities. Federal investment in our water infrastructure also can ensure safe, clean water is available to everyone in the region.”

The post Coalition Calls on Congress to End Water Shutoffs, Boost Funding for Water Infrastructure, Great Lakes appeared first on Healing Our Waters Coalition.

Original Article

Healing Our Waters Coalition

Healing Our Waters Coalition

https://healthylakes.org/great-lakes-coalition-calls-for-water-infrastructure-investments-moratorium-on-water-shutoffs/

Pavan Vangipuram

Today the U.S. Senate Great Lakes Task Force sent a letter to the Trump Administration, urging it to fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative at no less than $320 million. The administration will release its proposed budget on Monday, Feb. 10. Signatories to the letter include Great Lakes Task Force co-chairs U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), as well as Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Bob Casey (D-Pa.).

Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, said:

“We thank the bi-partisan group of senators—especially Task Force co-chairs Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio)—who are working to keep Great Lakes restoration a national priority. Federal investments in the Great Lakes are producing results, but more work remains. President Trump can show his support for the Great Lakes and clean water by robustly funding the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in his proposed budget. Further, the president can reconsider his recently announced roll-back of clean water protections for millions of people in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, New York, and Minnesota. Strong funding and strong clean water protections are both essential.”

The post Coalition Thanks Bi-Partisan Group of Senators for Making Great Lakes a Priority appeared first on Healing Our Waters Coalition.

Original Article

Healing Our Waters Coalition

Healing Our Waters Coalition

https://healthylakes.org/coalition-thanks-bi-partisan-group-of-senators-for-making-great-lakes-a-priority/

Pavan Vangipuram