Senate Passes Bipartisan Water Infrastructure Bill with Senator Hassan’s Amendment to Help Combat PFAS Contamination

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) joined her Republican and Democratic colleagues today in passing the bipartisan Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act. The bill included a provision that Senator Hassan authored to help communities combat water contamination, including PFAS.

“All Granite Staters must have access to clean, safe drinking water, and I am pleased that the Senate came together today on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis to help make necessary investments in water infrastructure,” said Senator Hassan. “I am also glad that the bill includes my amendment that will help communities in New Hampshire and across the country better monitor for PFAS and other dangerous contaminants, and make upgrades to address this contamination. I look forward to continuing to work across the aisle to protect public health by ensuring that all Granite Staters have safe drinking water.”

The Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021 would invest approximately $36 billion in critical programs that communities can use to address water contamination – including lead pipes and PFAS contamination – and strengthen water infrastructure. The bipartisan bill would also create a program that provides grants to communities to use new or emerging technologies to protect the safety of their public drinking water, such as installing a new PFAS monitoring system or hardening their systems against cyber threats. Senator Hassan’s amendment builds on this program by giving states more flexibility to determine eligibility for the federal funding to improve water systems.

Senator Hassan’s amendment was included as part of the updated legislation that the Senate first voted to advance earlier this week. You can read the text of Senator Hassan’s amendment here.

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