May 6, 2020
Diane VanDe Hei, Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), released the following statement today following the Senate Enviroment and Public Works Committee's approval of the Drinking Water Infrastructure Act of 2020:
"AMWA appreciates that the Drinking Water Infrastructure Act as approved today by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee acknowledges that drinking water systems of all sizes would benefit from assistance to build resilience to the effects of natural hazards. The latest draft of the bill takes a step forward in allowing community water systems of all sizes to access this grant assistance through the new Drinking Water Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program, but the bill still illogically excludes metropolitan water systems from competing for resilience funds under any of three separate EPA programs that would be dedicated to this purpose. Nevertheless, AMWA applauds the progress that has been made, and looks forward to continuing to work with the Senate to ensure that all community water systems have fair access to drinking water system infrastructure resilience and sustainability funding."