For Immediate Release
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Contact: Hannah Goss, hgoss@azdem.org
A Pipe Dream No Longer: Biden to Deliver Clean Drinking Water to Every Arizonan
PHOENIX — Across the nation, up to 10 million households and 400,000 schools and child care centers currently lack safe drinking water — and that’s why President Biden and Democrats included the largest-ever investment in clean drinking water in their historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
No thanks to all four Arizona Republicans who voted against the legislation, soon residents across our state will be able to turn on the faucet at home or school and drink safe, clean water.
The Biden-Harris administration is working to deliver clean drinking water to every Arizonan by:
- Allocating $619 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to modernize water infrastructure across Arizona and eliminate lead pipes and service lines to ensure that clean, safe drinking water is a right in all communities.
- Using the Biden-Harris administration’s Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan to catalyze federal, state, and local resources and accelerate the replacement of lead pipes in the next decade, building back better where kids are – in their homes, schools, child care centers, playgrounds, and more – while focusing on the disadvantaged and often overlooked communities.
- According to a 2017 study, most Arizona school districts have at least one water fixture where lead was above the acceptable level.
- Implementing a new EPA Roadmap to combat PFAS pollution by expanding contaminant testing, enforcing a limit for PFAS in drinking water, and remediating the impacts of these harmful pollutants.
- In April of 2021, GOP Gov. Doug Ducey himself called on the federal government to mitigate the potential for water contamination — and with this intervention, Biden is doing that and more to advance clean water in Arizona.
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