By Josh Klainberg
After three rounds of federal funding, New York State has received $369 million for lead service line inventory and pipe replacement projects and at this rate is likely to receive at least $645 million in total. This funding is coming from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) that was signed into law by President Biden in October 2021. In total, BIL is providing $15 billion to all states — at a rate of $3 billion a year over a five year period — the largest amount of funding ever invested by the federal government for this purpose.
Municipally and privately owned public water systems are invited to apply for project funding through the New York State Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) that provides financing to make improvements for drinking water infrastructure. Based on how well the project is scored and ranked based on human risk and compliance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, grants are awarded for areas that serve Disadvantaged Communities and interest-free financing (0% loan) is awarded for all areas. The NYS State Department of Health and the Environmental Facilities Corporation are working in partnership to administer this program.
According to the Centers for Disease Control there is no safe level of lead exposure. Exposure to lead has been linked to various health and behavioral issues, especially in children. Even low levels of lead, which were once considered safe, can cause severe and permanent harm to the developing brains and nervous systems of infants and young children. Lead exposure can limit a child’s cognitive ability, cause behavioral problems, and affect their ability to concentrate and learn in school.
A service line is a pipe that connects the water main on the street to a residential or commercial building. Unfortunately, many service lines are made of lead or contain lead components which can flake off and contaminate drinking water. In April 2023, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that there were at least 494,000 lead service lines in New York State, making it one of the top six states with the most lead service lines.
In March 2024, we blogged on the first round of awarded funds to 24 projects from 18 applicants in the state with over $104 million towards projects related to lead service line inventory or replacement.
Recently, the NYS Department of Health released the latest round of $111 million in funding, the second of five expected installments:
- Topping the list were New York City and the City of Rochester, each were awarded $24 million for pipe replacement work.
- The City of Poughkeepsie was awarded $15 million to assist with their inventory ($2.4 million) and pipe replacement ($12.6 million)
- The City of Albany was awarded $14.8 million to assist with their inventory ($2 million) and pipe replacement ($12.8 million)
- The City of Troy was awarded $12.8 million for pipe replacement
Despite the good news about $111 million being awarded in the second round of funding, there were 138 projects from 119 applicants in this round totaling $327 million dollars. That means for the second year in a row, for every dollar awarded another two dollars was requested but unfunded. This consistent discrepancy clearly indicates the high demand and urgency to have more state and federal funds available for inventory and replacement work.
NYLCV will be monitoring the progress over the years as well as advocate for additional funding from the state and federal government to address the growing backlog.