Carper Highlights Importance of the Safe Drinking Water Act Ahead of its 50th Anniversary

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, today led a hearing celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). 

HIGHLIGHTS:

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SDWA AS AMERICA’S FOUNDATIONAL DRINKING WATER LAW:

Chairman Tom Carper:

“To understand the significance of the Safe Drinking Water Act, it’s important for us to recall the state of our nation’s drinking water in the early 1970s. Before the Safe Drinking Water Act became law in 1974, there was no comprehensive federal regulation protecting our nation’s drinking water. In 1970, officials found that some 90 percent of surveyed drinking water systems were contaminated… And between 1961 and 1970, state health departments, along with supplemental reports, documented nearly 50,000 cases of illness caused by waterborne disease in the United States. As a result, Congress got to work and passed the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974.”

Radhika Fox, Principal, North Star Strategy and Former Assistant Administrator for Water, Environmental Protection Agency:

“The Safe Drinking Water Act, while many Americans don’t even think about it, was truly a game changer in terms of our ability to protect the health and wellbeing of the American people. During my time at the EPA, I had the honor of working very closely with this committee to continue to make progress for the American people through the implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act.”

ON THE SUCCESS OF THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW’S INVESTMENTS IN OUR WATER INFRASTRUCTURE: 

Chairman Carper:

“In total, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invested an unprecedented $55 billion to improve drinking water and wastewater systems in communities across our country. This remains the single-largest water infrastructure investment in our nation’s history. Those funds are going a long way toward protecting the health and protecting the wellbeing of Americans from coast to coast.”

Chairman Carper:

“The city of Tucson in Arizona is using Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to treat contaminated well water. The community of Hastings, Nebraska is using Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to inventory lead service lines that the city will then replace. And the City of Newark, New Jersey is using Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to evaluate the reliability of their sewer systems too.”

ON THE PROGRESS WE’VE MADE:

Radhika Fox, Principal, North Star Strategy and Former Assistant Administrator for Water, Environmental Protection Agency:

“I want to … take a moment to reflect on our progress because I think so often when we do this work, we’re thinking about, “what’s next?” “what are the challenges that we haven't dealt with yet?” But, if you think about it, 50 years ago, [we had the] Safe Drinking Water Act, 52 years ago we had the Clean Water Act. Two incredibly important canons of environmental regulation. We have gone from human waste in our drinking water, we’ve gone from rivers on fire because there was so much pollution, to really incredible progress for the American people … under [Senator Carper’s] leadership and Senator Capito’s leadership, we got $50 billion in funding for water infrastructure, which is setting the stage for the next 50 years of progress. I think we just have to keep going … when we bet on water, America wins.”

Click here to watch Chairman Carper’s round of questions.

Click here to watch Chairman Carper’s opening statement.

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