Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that Tennessee communities will receive $120,833,000 for improvements to their drinking water and wastewater systems through the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which he voted for and President Biden signed into law last month.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
“I was proud to support the bipartisan infrastructure bill and congratulated President Biden at the White House when he signed it into law because I knew how transformational it will be for communities like Memphis that need significant upgrades in their drinking water and wastewater systems. I look forward to seeing even larger investments of this kind when the House-passed Build Back Better Act is passed in the Senate.”
This $120.8 million in funding for Tennessee is the first round of a five-year investment authorized by the new law. The law will underwrite the replacement of lead pipes in communities like Memphis and Millington. Much of Midtown Memphis and the inner city currently have lead pipes.
Signed into law by President Biden on November 15, 2021, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included $50 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency to improve our nation’s water systems – the largest single investment in water in history. Of this total, $15 billion nationally will go toward replacing lead pipes and service lines across the country over the next five years, with a special focus on advancing equity and justice for under-resourced communities.
In addition to this funding under the bipartisan infrastructure law, the House-passed Build Back Better Act will add an additional $10 billion to this water safety effort.
Original source can be found here.
