Davids Highlights Federal Funding for Lead Pipe Replacement Projects
OLATHE, KS - Today, Representative Sharice Davids met with city, state, and regional leaders to discuss how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the largest investment in clean drinking water in American history, can help replace lead pipes across the Kansas Third. Lead exposure can cause severe illness, primarily in babies and infants, and there are an estimated 160,000 lead water lines are in Kansas – the third-highest per capita nationwide.
"All Kansans should be able to turn on the faucet and drink clean water, yet lead in our pipes and service lines have caused contamination at our homes, workplaces, and schools," said Davids. "The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law's major investment to replace existing lead pipes in Kansas will keep our kids safe and create good-paying jobs. No amount of lead exposure is safe, and I'm proud to work with local officials to protect our most vulnerable."
Rep. Sharice Davids with local officials after touring an Olathe lead pipe replacement site.
"The City of Olathe has been proactive in updates to the Lead and Copper Rule by establishing a task force and creating an inventory of all water lines in the City," said Megan Spence, Distribution Compliance Manager and Manager of the Olathe Pipe Replacement Education Program for the City of Olathe. "Our work is to identify all lines that carry water and if any are made of lead, we have a plan to replace. Through robust well established corrosion control and treatment practices, the City of Olathe remains dedicated to providing safe drinking water to residents. While we have until 2024 to create a full inventory, we're working to meet that deadline and plan replacement of lead lines."
"The financial burden of a full-service line replacement for a water customer in Wyandotte county, where per capita income is 35% below the state average, is significant," said Senior Engineer, Senior Engineer for Kansas Board of Public Utilities. "This project will allow for a minimal charge to property owners for replacing the private side of service lines. BPU is currently reviewing customers' historical information to identify potential services that may need a full-service line replacement, and as always is doing everything it can to reduce the financial burden on our community. We appreciate Rep. David's and others efforts to help secure funding that ensures reliable, safe, and efficient water delivery for all."
"This is a wonderful opportunity for city, state, and regional leaders to protect and improve the health of Kansans by working to eliminate barriers to clean, safe drinking water," said Secretary Janet Stanek, Kansas Department of Health and Environment. "We want all Kansans, no matter where they work or live, to be confident that their drinking water is clean and remains uncontaminated by lead pipes."
"EPA Region 7 has nearly $80 million going to the state of Kansas this year alone from President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law," said Meg McCollister, United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator. "The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding is a transformational investment opportunity to address our most pressing issues, like replacing drinking water lead (Pb) service lines."
The Bipartisan Infrastructure law, which Davids is the only member of the Kansas delegation to support, includes $15 billion of dedicated funding to identify and replace lead pipes and service lines, the primary cause of lead contamination in drinking water. Today, Davids heard from City of Olathe and Kansas City Board of Public Utilities (BPU) officials about their proposed funding requests from infrastructure law grants. The City of Olathe's Pipe Replacement Education Program works to identify and replace service lines with toxic materials. The site Davids visited today was the first home with a line replacement funded by the project. Kansas BPU is requesting funding to help identify unknown materials in Kansas service lines in order to meet the Revised Lead and Copper Rule standards.
Davids, who serves as the Vice Chair of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, previously announced that in fiscal year 2022, the bipartisan infrastructure law is bringing $500 million to improve Kansas roads, $225 million to repair Kansas bridges, more than $13 million for airports in the Third District, and $79 million for water infrastructure across Kansas. The law has been called the most fiscally responsible infrastructure bill in at least a decade by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.