Washington, D.C. – Today, Representatives Annie Kuster (NH-02), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Chris Pappas (NH-01), and Seth Moulton (MA-06) applauded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) newly announced availability of $67 million in federal grant funding through the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program. The funding will help local communities like those along the Merrimack River address stormwater and wastewater overflows that pollute local waterways.

“Sewage overflows pose a serious threat to the health and wellbeing of our Granite State communities, and the federal government has a responsibility to support efforts to ensure local waterways are clean and free of waste,” said Congresswoman Kuster. “This funding from the EPA is a step in the right direction towards making our sewage and stormwater systems safer and more resilient. I look forward to working with my colleagues and the Biden-Harris administration to bolster federal investment in our waterway infrastructure to ensure our communities get the support they need.”

“Every community along the Merrimack River like Lowell, Dracut, Methuen, Lawrence, and Haverhill knows just how devastating combined sewer overflows can be. For too long, Washington has shifted the financial and environmental burdens of addressing this issue to local governments, who are already being asked to do more with less,” said Congresswoman Trahan. “This down payment is a signal that help is on the way. Alongside Representatives Pappas, Kuster, and Moulton and working hand in glove with the Biden-Harris administration, we will ensure that federal investments in our wastewater systems finally meet the needs of communities like ours.”

“Maintaining the health and well-being of the Merrimack is essential to our regional economy and our way of life,” said Congressman Pappas. “These federal dollars will help our communities upgrade failing and antiquated infrastructure that poses a threat to our environment. I’m proud to work with Representatives Trahan, Kuster, and Moulton improve the cleanliness of our waterways and ensure that the Merrimack River will support our regional needs for generations to come.”

“CSOs come up almost every single time I do a town hall, Facebook live or community meeting. In the United States of America, clean drinking water and clean rivers ought to be a right,” said Congressman Moulton. “We can stop CSO by investing in a new generation of infrastructure and technology. That means 21st century wastewater systems and alert systems until we fix the problem. This grant will help get us there.”

The Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program allocates federal grants for combined sewer and stormwater overflow infrastructure projects in local communities. States are eligible to apply for the funding, which once awarded, are provided as sub-awards to local governments for projects that address combined sewer overflows, sanitary sewer overflows, and stormwater management.

“While utilities do an incredible job of managing wastewater and safely returning it to the environment, increased water from heavy rains and storms can challenge and even circumvent this great work,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox. “Under America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018, this new grant program empowers EPA’s state, local, and utility partners to improve stormwater management and benefit communities.”

Kuster, Trahan, Pappas, and Moulton have consistently advocated for increased federal investments in wastewater and stormwater infrastructure to prevent CSOs along the Merrimack River. Since its reauthorization in 2018, the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants program has seen consistently higher annual appropriations, from $28 million in fiscal year 2020 to $40 million in fiscal year 2021.

The lawmakers also successfully included key provisions of their Stop Sewage Overflow Act, which would authorize hundreds of millions of dollars over the next five years for CSO projects through the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program, in the Moving Forward Act, the infrastructure bill passed by the House last year. Notably, President Joe Biden’s recently unveiled American Jobs Plan specifically recommends allocating $56 billion in grants and low-cost flexible loans to states and traditionally disadvantaged communities to modernize aging water systems like those along the Merrimack.

###