U.S. Representatives Terri Sewell, D-Alabama, and Mike Rogers, R-Alabama, introduced the Rural Decentralized Water Systems Reauthorization Act in the House of Representatives on Friday.
The bipartisan, bicameral bill aims to address Alabama’s rural wastewater crisis by strengthening and expanding the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Decentralized Water Systems Program, which provides grants to help low- and moderate-income households install or upgrade individually owned decentralized wastewater systems.
The program was created through Sewell and Rogers’ Rural Septic Tank Access Act, which was included in the 2018 Farm Bill.
“I have seen firsthand the health and environmental hazards caused by failing wastewater systems in rural Alabama,” Sewell said. “No family should have to endure these conditions simply because they cannot afford the exorbitant cost of maintaining their own wastewater system or lack access to municipal lines. In 2018, we took an important step toward addressing this crisis by making federal grants available to low- and moderate-income households. We are working hard to strengthen and expand this program so that we can provide greater assistance to the families who need it.”
About 20% of Americans dispose of wastewater through their own sewage disposal systems. Because those systems carry high maintenance costs, some failures go unaddressed, potentially endangering the health of millions of people living in areas where water can be contaminated.
The problem is especially severe in parts of rural Alabama where, without municipal wastewater systems, many families have struggled to afford the installation and maintenance costs tied to individually owned wastewater systems, according to Sewell’s press release.
The Rural Decentralized Water Systems Reauthorization Act would reauthorize the Rural Decentralized Water Systems Grant Program through 2031, restore loan eligibility for individuals earning up to 100% of the area median income, target funding through subgrants to individuals earning 60% or less of the area median income, increase the maximum subgrant or loan amount from $15,000 to $20,000, and allow subgrant funding to cover the cost of a performance warranty for individually owned household decentralized wastewater systems.
Companion legislation was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, and Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia.
“Hundreds of thousands of homes across the U.S. lack access to basic sewage systems, with many left with no option but to straight-pipe raw sewage directly into their back yards,” Booker said. “Many New Jerseyans in low-income households are dealing with broken or outdated wastewater systems, and this bill will help provide better access to wastewater infrastructure for families who desperately need it.”
“Strengthening infrastructure across West Virginia has long been a top priority for me,” Capito said. “This legislation will improve home water systems in our state and reauthorize the Rural Decentralized Water Systems Grant Program, a program that has delivered real results for West Virginians. This legislation is also included in my Farm Bill priorities this year, and I look forward to continuing my work to move it forward.”
