WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Bob Casey and John Fetterman announced on Friday the distribution of $265,913,000 in federal funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make Pennsylvania’s drinking water safer and cleaner.
The funding, bolstered by the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, will remove contaminants — like Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)—from the water supply and improve water infrastructure by replacing lead pipes, the Pennsylvania Democrats said in a press release.
“Thanks to the infrastructure law, Pennsylvania will receive more than $265 million to make our drinking water safer and cleaner, including significant boosts in funding to eradicate ‘forever chemicals’ like PFAS and replace lead pipes,” said Casey. “Every Pennsylvanian has the right to safe, pure water and I will keep working with the Biden Administration until that promise is a reality in our urban, suburban, and rural communities alike.”
“It’s just plain commonsense that we need to provide clean drinking water to all communities in Pennsylvania and across the country,” said Fetterman. “The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s robust investment in water infrastructure will help ensure that access to clean drinking water is a right, even in communities that have long been marginalized and forgotten.”
The EPA is distributing this appropriation to Pennsylvania from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. Thanks to the infrastructure law, EPA increased the Commonwealth’s DWSRF allotment from the Fiscal Year 2022 amount.
Most notably, Pennsylvania’s funding to replace lead pipes increased by 64% this fiscal year. The infrastructure law is investing over $50 billion in water and wastewater infrastructure improvements across the country between FY 2022 and FY 2026 — the single largest investment in water the federal government has ever made.
