Capito reintroduces bill establishing wastewater grants for low-income communities

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) reintroduced Tuesday a bipartisan bill seeking to establish a decentralized wastewater grant program through the amendment of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.

S. 3274, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), has been referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and addresses wastewater challenges faced by low-income and rural communities. A companion bill, H.R. 5856, was introduced in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

“Having a functioning wastewater system is important when it comes to keeping families, individuals, and entire communities healthy,” Sen. Capito said. “It’s hard for many across the country to imagine not having ready access to this basic service, however, this is sadly a reality in certain parts of rural states like West Virginia.”

Roughly 20 percent of Americans dispose of wastewater through their own sewage disposal systems, according to a statement released by Sen. Capito’s office. These systems, in turn, have high maintenance costs, which allow certain failures to go unnoticed or unaddressed, endangering the health of millions of Americans living in areas that can be contaminated by faulty or nonexistent sewage systems.

“This bipartisan legislation will ease the financial burden for West Virginians that wish to install wastewater systems on their property, benefiting themselves and the environment in our state,” Sen. Capito said.

The legislation would establish a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant program under the Clean Water Act to help low and moderate-income communities connect their homes to existing and regulated wastewater infrastructure or install or upgrade individually owned decentralized wastewater systems. The grant funding would be provided to qualified nonprofit organizations, which would then provide sub-grants to eligible individuals.