Hill Votes to Increase Funding to Improve Drinking Water Quality in ArkansasFor more information, contact: Mike Siegel, (202) 225-2506
Washington, DC,
July 15, 2016
Today, after the House passed H.R. 5538, Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017, which grant awards for actionable funds under the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund (DWSRF) to help cities and communities with lead in their drinking water address this issue. A recent report from the National Resources Defense Council, listed eight Arkansas counties for having lead in their drinking water. Following passage of the bill, Congressman French Hill (AR-02) released the following statement: “Often in the United States, we take our access to clean water for granted, but the reality remains that many Americans don’t have drinking water that meets the acceptable standard for the leading industrialized nation in the world. In Arkansas and across the country, we have seen the dangers of increased lead levels in our drinking water, and I am relieved that my colleagues in the House support efforts that will assist our communities in need as they tackle this challenge.” H.R. 5538 also contained a provision that would increase EPA Science and Technology by $3 million intended to “help provide fresh drinking water to communities that have been impacted by lead in their drinking water” and would reduce EPA Environmental Programs and Management by $3 million, and another that would eliminate the limitation that 20 percent of funds made available to each state under the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund may be used to provide subsidy for communities in which a state disaster declaration is in effect due to potential exposure to lead in drinking water. |