Press Releases

Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03), Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced the Water Emergency and Technical Assistance Act to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize emergency assistance and grants for clean water and drinking water infrastructure.

When severe rainstorms in June caused a sewer pipe to break in Haverhill, Massachusetts, millions of gallons of untreated wastewater flowed into the Merrimack River, endangering public safety and resulting in economic losses from beach and fisheries closures. This legislation would provide technical and financial support to water treatment facilities during emergency situations in order to prevent and mitigate threats to public health, such as exposure to contaminants. 

“Haverhill showed us what happens when a century-old system fails and the federal government is nowhere to be found. Cities were left to fight sewage flowing into the Merrimack with local dollars and borrowed time,” said Congresswoman Trahan. “Our bill fixes that. It puts real federal money on the table the moment an emergency like this hits, so no community has to face it alone.”

“Water system emergencies spell disaster for their communities—they’re expensive, bad for business, and dangerous to public health. Our communities deserve clean water and quick access to support in response to emergency situations that put their health and economies in danger,” said Senators Markey and Warren. “The federal government should be able to provide emergency grants for emergency situations. This legislation would authorize grants for clean water and drinking water, so we can spend more time keeping our communities safe and local businesses open and less time hiking rates and fighting pollution.”

The Water Emergency and Technical Assistance Act would create a new emergency grant program under the Clean Water Act, funded at $50 million annually, to help communities respond immediately to failures in their wastewater systems, including combined sewer overflows and other critical system failures that threaten public health. The program would also make emergency funding and technical assistance available for other threats to water systems, including cybersecurity breaches that pose a substantial risk to public health. Additionally, the bill would reauthorize and expand the existing emergency grant program for drinking water systems under the Safe Drinking Water Act, increasing annual funding from $35 million to $50 million.

Last month, a main sewer line in Haverhill broke following intense rainfall, discharging untreated wastewater into the Merrimack River, forcing the temporary closure of multiple North Shore beaches, and halting local shellfish operations. The city moved quickly to install an emergency bypass, but it did so with little federal support. Had the bill introduced today been in place, Haverhill could have received federal emergency funds to support its immediate response, including the bypass installation.

The Water Emergency and Technical Assistance Act builds on Trahan's ongoing efforts to secure federal support for communities along the Merrimack River. Yesterday, she led a request to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin requesting rapid response funding for water emergencies, long-term investment in replacing aging infrastructure, and restored grant funding for combined sewer upgrades. Trahan also introduced the bipartisan Stop Sewage Overflow Act to grow federal investment in combined sewer overflow projects to $500 million annually, and has secured direct community project funding for CSO work in Haverhill, Methuen, and Lowell. Emergency response funding would complement the long-term federal investment needed to complete wastewater system upgrades like the one underway in Haverhill for nearly a decade.

Full text of the can be accessed HERE.

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