President Joseph Biden’s infrastructure plan that was presented on March 31 provides $10 billion in funding to monitor and remediate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water and to invest in rural small water systems and household well and wastewater systems, including drainage fields.
Other water initiatives include the following items.
- To eliminate all lead pipes and service lines in the country, the plan is seeking to invest $45 billion in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and in Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN Act) grants. In addition to reducing lead exposure in homes, this investment also will reduce lead exposure in 400,000 schools and childcare facilities.
- The plan would modernize the aging water systems by modernizing them by scaling up existing, successful programs, including by providing $56 billion in grants and low-cost flexible loans to states, tribes, territories, and disadvantaged communities across the country.
- The plan would protect and, where necessary, restore nature-based infrastructure (lands, forests, wetlands, watersheds, and coastal and ocean resources). The plan would invest in protection from extreme wildfires, coastal resilience to sea-level rise and hurricanes, support for agricultural resources management and climate-smart technologies, and the protection and restoration of major land and water resources like Florida’s Everglades and the Great Lakes.
Click here to read the infrastructure plan.
NGWA has long been an industry leader in providing PFAS research, education, and resources to the public and scientific communities. In 2017, NGWA published Groundwater and PFAS: State of Knowledge and Practice, which was one of the first PFAS guidance documents to be released. It can be found at NGWA.org/PFAS, which is a complete resource center about the groundwater contaminants featuring a FAQs document, a top-10 facts sheet, a homeowner checklist, and more.
As in previous years, NGWA is once again hosting an event on the topic — the Fate of PFAS: From Groundwater to Tap Water virtual conference will take place June 22-23.