Funding from infrastructure law will enable PA to treat polluted water and conduct water quality testing
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) announced $75,086,000 in federal funding through the infrastructure law to address contaminants like Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in drinking water. The grant funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will enable Pennsylvania to treat polluted water and conduct water quality testing.
“For years I have I urged multiple presidents’ administrations to get ‘forever chemicals’ like PFAS out of Pennsylvania drinking water and keep them out,” said Senator Casey. “This major investment, made possible by the infrastructure law, is a strong start to clean up PFAS contamination in Pennsylvania’s waters. I’m going to keep working with the Biden Administration to build on this progress and we won’t stop until every Pennsylvanian has safe, clean water in their communities.”
“Clean drinking water is a human right, and the Biden Administration’s allocation of funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to address ‘forever chemicals’ in Pennsylvania’s drinking water is a massive step forward. These chemicals are a major threat to our community’s health and safety, and we’re going to keep working towards ensuring clean drinking water for all,” said Senator Fetterman.
The funding comes through the EPA’s Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities (EC-SDC) Grant Program, which will promote access to safe and clean water in small, rural, and disadvantaged communities while supporting local economies.
As part of his ongoing efforts to address the toxic effects of PFAS contamination, Senator Casey helped secure the inclusion of multiple provisions in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to advance research and a path toward remediation of toxic exposure to PFAS. For years, he has been at the forefront of efforts to address PFAS contamination in drinking water in Bucks and Montgomery Counties as a result of the use of a toxic firefighting agent at military installations.
In 2022, Senator Casey also helped to include a provision in the NDAA requiring the Department of Defense (DoD) to complete a report identifying all DoD-procured products containing PFAS and formulating plans to limit use of all those products. Additionally, he helped support the NDAA-included requirement to create a publicly accessible website detailing the DoD’s research efforts and assessments of PFAS contamination.
Senator Casey also helped secure the inclusion of a number of provisions to advance research and a path toward remediation of toxic exposure to PFAS in the 2021 NDAA. He helped lead efforts to authorize and increase the funding for a five-year Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study on the health effects of PFAS exposure.
In 2019, Senator Casey reiterated his call for EPA to declare—or for Congress to designate by law—PFAS as hazardous substances under the Superfund law so that responsible parties, including DoD, would be forced to pay for cleanups of sites with PFAS contamination. In April 2019, Casey met with local politicians and community leaders from Bucks and Montgomery Counties to discuss PFAS remediation, and urged passage of the PFAS Action Act, which would mandate the EPA to make that designation.
In August 2017, Casey sent a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee urging the DoD to investigate and clean up chemicals that have contaminated drinking water sources. Casey urged the Committee to fully fund a study included in the NDAA on the cumulative health effects and impact of PFAS exposure in water sources. In December 2017, Casey sent a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Defense, requesting support for various provisions in the Fiscal Year 2018 NDAA that would fund health studies into the implications of PFAS contamination and fund remediation efforts.
