Lawmakers have introduced a slew of bills in recent weeks to address drinking water concerns, including measures to clamp down on “forever chemicals” pollution and a bill to bring more funding to rural communities.
In the Senate, Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) introduced the “Unincorporated Partnerships for Grant Resources, Assistance and Drinking Water Enhancements (UPGRADE) ACT,” which would reauthorize through 2031 an EPA grant program for small, public water providers.
In the House, Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) last week reintroduced three bills he called his “Clean Water Agenda,” which focus on pollution from “forever chemicals,” also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
The “PFAS Research and Development Reauthorization Act,” H.R. 6667, co-sponsored with Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), would reauthorize EPA’s PFAS research authority after it expired at the end of fiscal 2024.
