Coalition Hails Bill to Invest $50 Billion in Water Infrastructure

ANN ARBOR, MICH. (March 17, 2021)—The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is hailing the introduction of new legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021, that invests $50 billion over five years to update antiquated water infrastructure. The Great Lakes states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin face more than $188 billion in repairs and upgrades to their drinking water and wastewater infrastructure over the next 20 years to meet the needs of communities.Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, said:“This bill goes a long way in the effort to provide clean drinking water to communities, prevent sewage contamination and other pollutants from harming people’s health, and restoring the Great Lakes. Every person in this country deserves access to clean, safe and affordable water, and this bill provides a level of investment that will help reduce pollution and make water bills more affordable for people. We thank Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), Chairwoman Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa) for their leadership on this bill. We look forward to working with the House to pass this bill, before the problems become worse and more expensive to solve.”The Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021 boosts investments in the EPA’s popular Clean Water State Revolving Fund to $40 billion over five years and provides billions of dollars in grants to address stormwater, sewer overflows, watershed-based pilot programs, and toxic PFAS cleanup.Since 2004, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has been harnessing the collective power of more than 160 groups representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes. Learn more at www.healthylakes.org or follow us on Twitter @healthylakes.