May 20, 2021

Bipartisan Support Builds for the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021

Legislation, now cosponsored by 40 Members of Congress, would authorize $50 billion to create jobs, modernize wastewater systems, and protect local waterways

Washington, DC- The bipartisan support in Congress for H.R. 1915, the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021, continues to grow. The bill, introduced in March by Chair of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Chair of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA), and Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), has grown to include 40 co-sponsors from both parties.

In a statement, Chair DeFazio said: “Infrastructure is calling, and I’m answering, not only for our roads, bridges, transit, and rail, but also for our wastewater systems that are in dire need of investment. We can’t afford to wait for these systems to fail before making badly needed upgrades—we need to make them now. That’s why I am encouraged to see the growing bipartisan support for my bill, H.R. 1915, that would provide the robust investment in our nation’s wastewater infrastructure needed to meet the needs of urban, suburban, and rural communities, create good-paying jobs, and put us on a path to ensuring safe, reliable, and affordable water for all.”

This bipartisan legislation would authorize $50 billion in direct infrastructure investment over the next five years to address America’s crumbling wastewater infrastructure and local water quality challenges, including $40 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) program—the primary source of federal assistance for wastewater infrastructure construction—which Congress has not authorized since 1987.

During two committee hearings on the nation’s critical wastewater infrastructure needs, witnesses from small towns, metropolitan utilities, businesses, tribal governments, labor, and environmental groups spoke with one voice on the challenges facing our communities to provide safe, reliable, and resilient water infrastructure to protect local economies, public health, and the health of the environment. There was unanimous support for the funding levels called for in H.R. 1915, as well as for the financial flexibility to ensure that communities of all sizes can afford the infrastructure repairs and upgrades necessary to meet the challenges of the 21^st century.

More than 60 organizations support the bill, ranging from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, to the Natural Resources Defense Council, to the Laborers’ International Union of North American, to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. A full list of the bill’s supporters can be found here.

Click here to learn more about the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021.

A full list of current co-sponsors is listed below:

Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA)
Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA)
Chris Pappas (D-NH)
Jared Huffman (D-CA)
Julia Brownley (D-CA)
Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA)
Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)
Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
Marilyn Strickland (D-WA)
André Carson (D-IN)
Dina Titus (D-NV)
Frederica Wilson (D-FL)
Steve Cohen (D-TN)
Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (D-GA)
Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY)
Marie Newman (D-IL)
Anthony Brown (D-MD)
Alan Lowenthal (D-CA)
Salud Carbajal (D-CA)
Gwen Moore (D-WI)
Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ)
Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-NJ)
Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-IL)
Tom Malinowski (D-NJ)
Josh Harder (D-CA)
Suzan DelBene (D-WA)
Albio Sires (D-NJ)
Mike Thompson (D-CA)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
Anna Eshoo (D-CA)
Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR)
Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA), Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment
Paul Tonko (D-NY)
Judy Chu (D-CA)
Jim Costa (D-CA)
Rick Larsen (D-WA)
Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA)
Nikema Williams (D-GA)
Greg Stanton (D-AZ)
Jake Auchincloss (D-MA)

The bill text, a fact sheet, and a section-by-section can be found here, here, and here.

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