Duckworth Celebrates $240 Million Federal Investment To Get the Lead Out of Drinking Water Throughout Illinois   

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), co-founder of both the U.S. Senate Environmental Justice Caucus and U.S. Senate Lead Task Force, today commended the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) newly-announced more than $240 million Drinking Water State Revolving Fund investment to help Illinois identify and replace lead service lines and prevent lead poisoning among our state’s children and families. This funding is the direct result of Duckworth’s Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act, which was signed into law as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and marked the most significant federal investment in water infrastructure in history.

“I’m pleased to see this significant EPA investment—funded by my Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act law—in Illinois to help communities across our state get the lead out of drinking water and protect our children from lead poisoning,” said Duckworth. “Every American—regardless of their race, income or zip code—deserves to know that the water their families are drinking is safe, clean and reliable, and I will keep working with the Biden Administration to ensure we eliminate lead service lines nationwide as soon as possible.”

As co-founder of the U.S. Senate’s Environmental Justice Caucus, improving water infrastructure in Illinois and across the country has been one of Duckworth’s top priorities. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included Senator Duckworth’s DWWIA, which prioritizes underserved communities and provides over $15 billion for lead service line replacement across the nation. Her law is already helping rebuild our nation’s crumbling water infrastructure and enabling communities to repair and modernize their failing wastewater systems while creating good-paying jobs in the process.

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