Continue Reading…
Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework that the President endorsed last week would provide just about half of that amount – $55 billion – which the President nevertheless described as "the largest investment in clean drinking water and waste water infrastructure in American history."
Yet that includes all of the President's proposed investments in replacing lead-containing water service lines and pipes, reflecting apparent bipartisan agreement that reducing exposure to lead in drinking water is worthwhile.
Infrastructure, Unqualified and Unplugged
Municipal drinking water and wastewater treatment systems epitomize infrastructure.
In contrast to the electric vehicle and grid modernization technologies that the AJP also seeks to promote as solutions to the climate crisis, replacement of lead-containing domestic water service lines falls much more clearly within what's thought of as traditional infrastructure.
While the Bipartisan Framework would fund just half of the President's initially proposed water infrastructure investments, it includes all of the lead service-line replacement expenditures proposed by the President. Additionally, the Democratic-controlled House last week passed the INVEST in America Act (H.R.包括1 672.5亿美元的饮用水和废水基础设施拟支用量,由两位共和党成员s/clerk.house.gov/Votes/202208投票 Environmental Protection Agency, there is no safe level for lead in drinking water and even low levels of lead in children's blood can cause behavioral and learning problems, lower IQ and hyperactivity, slowed growth, hearing problems and anemia.
The memory of the recent Flint, Michigan water crisis also looms large in the public mindset. In Flint, where 40 percent of people live in poverty, the city made a cost-saving decision in 2013 to switch from obtaining its domestic water supply from Detroit, to the Flint River. The Flint's water was much more corrosive and not adequately treated, which resulted in lead in service lines and household plumbing leaching into the water.
Now, after $250 million of state funding and $100 million of infrastructure funding awarded by EPA pursuant to the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act of 2016, the troubled service lines and household plumbing have largely been identified, with the last 500 service lines slated to be excavated, checked and replaced this month.
The situation in Flint – described by one researcher as the most egregious example of environmental injustice in recent U.S.历史 — — 成为对基础建设投资不足对贫困社区造成的不公平公共健康后果的象征Recent analysis suggests that lead exposure in the United States correlates to race.
Yet Flint is hardly unique:
- Newark, New Jersey, just recently removed over 18,000 lead service lines at no cost to residents.
- Washington, D.C., has embarked on a similar program, although one study found that customer-initiated service line replacements were being conducted primarily in higher-income neighborhoods.
These programs are costly and require significant levels of public investment to deploy at scale. Recognizing that, the AJP had initially proposed $45 billion in EPA State Revolving Fund and WIIN grants to replace all lead pipes and service lines for both homes and 400,000 schools and childcare facilities. The bill that the House passed last week includes funding for all of these efforts, plus an additional $53 billion to fund safe drinking water infrastructure and $51 billion for wastewater infrastructure.
Infrastructure and Environmental Justice
As described by our prior post, an animating principle of this Administration's infrastructure plan is addressing environmental injustice. And perhaps no feature of the AJP so tangibly marries the concept of traditional infrastructure to the Administration's environmental justice objectives as the proposed investment in the replacement of lead-containing water service lines.
Unlike other public health threats, the risks from exposure to lead have long been understood and its presence in domestic service lines and plumbing well known. As President Biden remarked upon pitching the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework last week in Wisconsin, more than 70,000 of Milwaukee's 160,000 water service lines contain lead, although Milwaukee is far from unusual!上星期二EPA管理员Michael Regan与Milwaukee市长和副手一起出现
This is the fourth in our series on "The ABCs of the AJP."
The White House's recent announcement of the American Jobs Plan (AJP) highlights the establishment of a "$27 billion Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator to mobilize private investment into distributed energy resources." While distributed energy resources (DERs) are only mentioned once in the announcement, they figure to play an important role in the Administration's overall goals.
Compared to traditional large-scale electricity generators, DERs are a collection of smaller, decentralized generators. They typically harness cleaner sources of energy, including renewables such as solar, wind, and geothermal, and are located closer to the energy users, reducing the need for long-range transmission.
By promising diverse localized production and a higher percentage of renewable energy in our grid, DERs figure to be a useful tool to achieve several of the Administration's goals, including: reducing economy-wide greenhouse gas pollution!and resiliency—not dependent upon just one energy source or provider, our grid will be less vulnerable to widespread outages. DERs have been an increasing focus of attention in California, since public-safety power-shutoffs have caused multi-day shutoffs for thousands of customers due to wind-precipitated events that pose a risk of wildfires.
The AJP explains that investment in DERs will come from an "Accelerator." The specifics of the Accelerator will be determined by Congress, where relevant bills have been introduced in both the House and the Senate. Specifics aside, the Accelerator will be an independent public or not-for-profit financial organization that will invest in clean energy. By focusing on renewable energy and energy efficiency, this entity would accelerate investment in a clean energy economy.
Both the House and Senate bills embrace the Administration's goal of using this Accelerator to advance environmental justice goals: "These investments have a particular focus on disadvantaged communities that have not yet benefited from clean energy investments." To this end, both bills make clear that not less than 40% of the total money invested would be directed towards disadvantaged communities that figure to be especially hard hit by climate change. See H.R.806, §1627(b)!S.283, §5245H(b).