WASHINGTON, DC – The effort to provide much needed aid to replace the aging water infrastructure in Flint, Michigan and other communities with drinking water emergencies is finally gaining bipartisan momentum.  A key obstruction to the bipartisan Drinking Water Safety and Infrastructure Act was removed last night when one U.S. Senator lifted a hold.  The bill contains several key provisions championed by U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) to reinforce effective lead poisoning prevention programs and protect children’s health.  The legislation is coauthored by U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Jim Inhofe (R-OK), and cosponsored by Senator Reed, as well as U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Richard Burr (R-NC), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Rob Portman (R-OH), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Mark Kirk (R-IL).  The bipartisan group of senators hope their coalition can now move the long-stalled effort to address the Flint water crisis forward.

“This is an important bipartisan agreement to help Flint with its water crisis and boost funding for lead poisoning prevention programs nationwide, but our work is not finished.  Millions of Americans, including a staggering number of children and families right here in Rhode Island, remain at risk to lead exposure. We must be proactive and continue to invest in the health and development of our communities,” said Senator Reed, a member of the Appropriations Committee.

Under the new bipartisan agreement – worth up to $220 million in total -- the federal Drinking Water State Revolving Fund would be authorized to distribute an additional $100 million in subsidized loans or grants between now and October 2017 “to any state that receives an emergency declaration… to a public health threat from lead or other contaminants in a public drinking water system.”

The Drinking Water Safety and Infrastructure Act also provides $70 million in subsidies which could be used to create a pool of $700 million in low-interest financing for water infrastructure projects through a newly created fund. 

It also makes $50 million in aid available for national use to address and prevent impacts from exposure to lead.  From this pool, Reed helped include:

  • $10 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Fund, which develops programs, educates the public and health providers, supports research, and provides funding to states to address and prevent childhood lead poisoning.
  • $10 million for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Healthy Homes Program, which provides grants to states to identify and mitigate a variety of environmental health and safety issues such as lead, mold, carbon monoxide, and radon.
  • $10 million for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Healthy Start Initiative.  This program provides assistance to pregnant women and new mothers and connects them with health care and other resources needed to foster healthy childhood development.

Each year, Senator Reed leads efforts to maximize funding for lead hazard control programs and healthy homes/lead poisoning prevention programs at the CDC, HUD, and HHS.

The bipartisan agreement is needed to overcome a legislative impasse on this issue in the Senate.  Last month, Senators Stabenow and Peters proposed a $600 million aid package for Flint, but Senate Republicans blocked the measure.  The new package was introduced this week as both a standalone bill and as an amendment to a comprehensive energy bill already under consideration by the full U.S. Senate.  U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) had put an initial hold on the bill, but last night his office announced it would lift the hold and allow the measure to be considered by the full Senate.  The bill is not completely out of the woods yet, but Reed, Stabenow, Inhofe and others are working on a bipartisan basis to try to ensure prompt passage.

No date has been set yet for a vote on the new compromise, but the bill could be considered by the full U.S. Senate as early as next week.

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