Walden, Shimkus, Upton praise new law to protect America’s drinking water

U.S. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR), John Shimkus (R-IL), and Fred Upton (R-MI), who serve on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, this week praised action by the president to make a water infrastructure bill a new federal law.

“We applaud President Trump for signing this landmark legislation into law to strengthen access to safe drinking water,” said Rep. Walden, ranking member of the committee; Rep. Shimkus, ranking member of the committee’s Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee; and Rep. Upton, Republican leader of the committee’s Energy Subcommittee, in a joint statement.

The president on Oct. 4 signed into law the bipartisan Water Infrastructure Funding Transfer Act, S. 1689, to allow transfers from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) during a one-year period ending on Oct. 4, 2020, in an amount up to 5 percent of the state’s cumulative CWSRF federal grant dollars.

Under the new law, Congress also finds that excessive amounts of lead have been found in water systems throughout the United States and recognizes that states do not have adequate funds in the DWSRF to address lead contamination in drinking water.

And Congress also acknowledges in the law that some states have available funds in the CWSRF that could be used to address lead in drinking water.

Therefore, during the one-year period that started on Oct. 4, if states, in consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency, determine CWSRF funds are necessary to address lead in drinking water, then states may transfer funds to provide financial support in the form of forgiveness of principal, negative interest loans or grants, or any combination, according to the law.

“This law will help ensure our state and local partners across the country have the tools they need to protect the health of their communities and reduce lead in drinking water,” according to the lawmakers’ statement. “Importantly, this builds on our efforts last Congress at the Energy and Commerce Committee to modernize our nation’s aging drinking water infrastructure for all Americans.”