SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WICS) — U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), co-founder of the U.S. Senate Environmental Justice Caucus and the U.S. Senate Lead Task Force, today praised the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for announcing an investment exceeding $240 million from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.
This investment aims to assist Illinois in identifying and replacing lead service lines to prevent lead poisoning in children and families across the state.
This funding is the direct result of Duckworth’s Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act, which was signed into law as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and marked the most significant federal investment in water infrastructure in history.
‘I’m pleased to see this significant EPA investment—funded by my Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act law—in Illinois to help communities across our state get the lead out of drinking water and protect our children from lead poisoning. Every American—regardless of their race, income or zip code—deserves to know that the water their families are drinking is safe, clean and reliable, and I will keep working with the Biden Administration to ensure we eliminate lead service lines nationwide as soon as possible,’ said Duckworth.
As co-founder of the U.S. Senate’s Environmental Justice Caucus, improving water infrastructure in Illinois and across the country has been one of Duckworth’s top priorities.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included Senator Duckworth’s DWWIA, which prioritizes underserved communities and provides over $15 billion for lead service line replacement across the nation.
Her law is already helping rebuild our nation’s crumbling water infrastructure and enabling communities to repair and modernize their failing wastewater systems while creating good-paying jobs in the process.