Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
On Dec. 2, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan announced water infrastructure funding that states, tribes and territories will receive in 2022 through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Regan said the funding, provided through the EPA’s State Revolving Fund programs, will create jobs while upgrading aging water infrastructure and addressing key challenges like lead in drinking water and per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination.
Massachusetts will receive $188.9 million in 2022.
In a letter to governors, Regan urged states to maximize the impact of water funding to address disproportionate environmental burdens in historically underserved communities. He said the infrastructure law “created a historic opportunity to correct long-standing environmental and economic injustices across America.”
He highlighted three priorities:
• Target resources to disadvantaged communities.
• Make rapid progress on lead-free water for all.
• Tackle forever chemicals.
The EPA will allocate $7.4 billion to states, tribes and territories for 2022, with nearly half of this funding available as grants or principal forgiveness loans that remove barriers to investing in essential water infrastructure in underserved communities across rural America and in urban centers.
The 2022 allocation is the first of five years of nearly $44 billion in dedicated EPA SRF funding that states will receive through the infrastructure law. For more than 30 years, the SRFs have provided low-cost financing for local projects.
Visit www.epa.gov/infrastructure for more information, including allocations by state, a breakdown of EPA funding by SRF program, and additional funding available through the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed by President Joe Biden on Nov. 15. The package includes $60 billion for programs and initiatives implemented by the EPA.
Regan said the EPA’s Office of Water will soon be issuing national program guidance to state primacy agencies for the use of water infrastructure funding through the IIJA.