Utility contractors welcome $5.8bn in funding for US water infrastructure projects

The announcement came from Environmental Protection Agency administrator Michael S. Regan and Vice President Kamala Harris, as part of a wider $50 billion investment in waster infrastructure upgrades under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The $5.8 billion in funding comes through the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRF), one of the EPA’s water investment programmes.

A total of $2.6 billion will go towards wastewater and stormwater infrastructure projects, with another $3.2 billion going towards drinking water infrastructure.

NUCA CEO Doug Carlson welcomed the news but said much more funding was needed to upgrade the USA’s waster infrastructure.

He said, “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 downpayment 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.”