Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher Tours Surface Water Supply Project with West Harris County Regional Water Authority and Houston Public Works, Highlighting Water Investments in Infrastructure Bill
“The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will bring vital resources to Texas for water infrastructure,” said Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher. “The Surface Water Supply Project is a transformational project to ensure a supply of clean drinking water and mitigate subsidence from groundwater use. Through the IIJA, Congress has worked to ensure that transformative projects like this one can move forward to every American has access to clean drinking water. The new law will help make additional investments in safe, clean drinking water a reality for Houston families.”
The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will provide $2.9 billion to Texas, an estimate based on the traditional state revolving fund formula, to address water infrastructure across the state. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that the capital cost of wastewater and drinking water infrastructure needed to meet federal water quality and safety requirements and public health objectives exceeds $744 billion over a 20-year period. In addition to authorizing numerous EPA-administered infrastructure grant programs, the IIJA provides emergency supplemental appropriations for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. It appropriates:
$23.4 billion for the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Loan Funds (SRF), which provide below-market rate loans and grants to public water systems to fund water infrastructure improvements to protect public health and the environment. This legislation reduces the state cost share for the first two years to 10%. 49% of these funds will be administered as grants and completely forgivable loans.
A historic $15 billion for lead service line replacement through the Drinking Water SRF. States are not required to provide a cost share to receive these funds. 49% of these funds will be administered as grants and completely forgivable loans.
$10 billion to address PFAS contamination, with $5 billion being distributed through the SRFs and $5 billion going to the small and disadvantaged community grant program. States are not required to provide a cost share. 100% of the funding will be administered as grants.
It authorizes a grant program to assist midsize and large drinking water systems with increasing their resilience to natural hazards, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and extreme weather events. Funds may be used to promote water conservation enhance water-efficiency, create desalination facilities, relocate or renovate existing vulnerable water systems, enhance water supply, and implement measures to increase resiliency to natural hazards, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, or extreme weather events, including extreme weather events that are a result of climate change.
