Sarbanes Brings Focus to the Water Infrastructure Needs of Underserved Communities [VIDEO]
Statement
Today, Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) urged states to ensure that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's record water infrastructure funding is distributed equitably across underserved communities.
At the Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change hearing entitled, "Trusting the Tap: Upgrading America's Drinking Water Infrastructure," Congressman Sarbanes drew attention to the patchwork of access to clean, safe drinking water across income levels in small urban areas. Invoking Baltimore, where many low-income residents have long faced issues like lead contamination, Congressman Sarbanes called on states to ensure their funding decisions fully consider underserved communities in urban areas that may otherwise be overlooked due to their proximity to larger, better water systems.
"In communities where residents have a wide disparity of income levels, some residents may be perfectly satisfied with the safety and reliability of their well-maintained water supply while, just a few blocks away, their neighbors face a continuous struggle to access clean and safe water despite being part of the same, larger water system," said Congressman Sarbanes.
He continued, "The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will help to address these problems by providing robust funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF), as we've discussed today, which provides low-interest loans to states for investments in water and sanitation infrastructure."
He concluded, "Some states' current definitions of disadvantaged communities would omit urban communities like those I described earlier, where low-income neighborhoods are considered part of larger water systems that also contain more affluent neighborhoods and so, on average, would be deemed not in need of this water infrastructure support. That's a challenge we have to address."
See below for a video of the Congressman's full remarks.
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