Booker, Capito, Sewell, Rogers Reintroduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill to Address Wastewater Needs of Low-Income Households

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) as well as U.S. Representatives Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Mike Rogers (R-AL) reintroduced the bipartisan, bicameral Rural Decentralized Water Systems Reauthorization Act, legislation that would expand and strengthen the USDA Rural Decentralized Water Systems Program to provide support for low- and moderate-income households to install or upgrade their water well and wastewater systems.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over one million U.S. residents lack access to safely managed sanitation - meaning that their homes do not have an adequate method for disposing of human waste. The Rural Decentralized Water Systems Reauthorization Act would reauthorize the Rural Decentralized Water Systems Grant Program through 2031, increase the maximum subgrant or loan amount from $15,000 to $20,000, and target funding through subgrants to individuals earning 60 percent or less of the median nonmetropolitan household income for the area. Additionally, the bill would reinstate eligibility for loans to individuals earning up to 100 percent of the area median income and allow subgrant funding to include the cost of a performance warranty for individually owned household's decentralized wastewater systems.

"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." said Senator Booker. "Many New Jerseyans in low-income households are dealing with broken or outdated wastewater systems, and this bill will help provide better access to wastewater infrastructure for families who desperately need it."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," Senator 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."

"Access to proper wastewater systems in rural America remains an overlooked environmental issue of our time. As a longtime champion of wastewater funding that helps rural Alabamians, I am proud to join Senators Booker and Capito, and Congressman Mike Rogers, to reauthorize this grant program. As Congress considers agriculture funding in the Farm Bill, I support inclusion of this legislation that will ensure every community has the support needed to maintain clean, safe wastewater systems," said Congresswoman Sewell.

To read the full text of the bill, click here.