WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania will receive $200 million in new federal funding to improve public health by providing greater access to clean drinking water and improve facilities to treat sewage and cope with severe storms due to climate change.
Vice President Kamala Harris was to formally make the announcement later Tuesday during a trip to Pittsburgh.
The visit was part of a nationwide blitz by Joe Biden and members of his administration to showcase the legislation enacted during the president’s first term in advance of this fall’s election.
“With this investment, we are continuing our urgent work to remove every lead pipe in the country and ensure that every American has access to safe and reliable drinking water,” Ms. Harris said.
Her visit was another sign of the attention the administration is paying to Pennsylvania, the most populous battleground state. Polls show that the race is neck-and-neck in a state that Mr. Biden carried in 2020 and former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, won in 2016.
The funds will come out of the $50 billion included in Mr. Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law, which was opposed by all three House Republicans from Western Pennsylvania.
“With $50 billion in total, the largest investment in water infrastructure in our nation’s history, EPA will enable communities across the nation to ensure safer drinking water for their residents and rebuild vital clean water infrastructure to protect public health for decades to come,” said Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, who accompanied Ms. Harris on the trip.
Pennsylvania will receive $101 million for drinking water improvements and $99.5 million for sewage improvements.
Overall, $5.8 billion was allocated for two state-run programs that provide low-interest loans for infrastructure to improve drinking water and to handle sewage and stormwater.
The funds can be used to replace lead water pipes — though there also is a separate federal program for that — to improve water and sewage treatment plants, and to upgrade drainage systems that now are inadequate to handle more severe storms.
“The evidence is clear that lead pipes are really bad for health,” said Jill Rosenthal, author of a report by the Center for American Progress, a progressive research group, on the efforts to replace lead water lines. “Lead is odorless and tasteless so you may not find it right away. It’s particularly damaging for developing brains.”
Ms. Harris last came to Pittsburgh in June 2022 to talk about replacing lead water lines. Since then, the city has received $42 million in federal funding to replace the lead pipes and has a goal of replacing all of them by 2026
The Center for American Progress, in its report, highlighted Pittsburgh’s effort to pick up the cost of replacing the lead lines under houses, which otherwise would be the homeowners’ financial responsibility.
Jonathan D. Salant: jsalant@post-gazette.com, @JDSalant
First Published: February 20, 2024, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: February 20, 2024, 9:16 p.m.