Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Congressman David Rouzer (NC-07) and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (ME-01) reintroduced the Healthy Drinking Water Affordability Act (The Healthy H2O Act) in the United States House of Representatives.  The bipartisan bill was introduced in the Senate by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Susan Collins (R-ME).

“This past Congress, I was an original co-sponsor of The Healthy H2O Act," said Rep. Rouzer.  "I am pleased to announce we are introducing this legislation again.  If enacted into law, this bill would help nonprofits and those with private wells identify health-based contaminants, such as GenX chemicals, as well as other PFAS and PFOS compounds.  Additionally, the legislation would set up a grant program to help offset the cost of purchasing and installing effective water filtration systems to remove these forever chemicals.  I will continue working to help bring forward solutions to ensure access to safe drinking water." 

The Healthy H2O Act would provide financial assistance to families and small businesses in rural communities to test their drinking water and fund the purchase, installation, and maintenance of water filtration systems to provide healthy drinking water and immediate and ongoing protections from known and emerging water contaminants, like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), lead, and nitrates.

“The Healthy H2O Act will make water testing and treatment technology more accessible in rural Maine and across the country, especially for those on private wells who may not know whether their water is safe,” said Rep. Pingree. “I’m grateful that the Biden Administration is pursuing the first-ever national drinking water standard for six different per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. We must augment these efforts by giving our communities the resources they need to identify and address harmful chemicals in their drinking water. My Healthy H2O Act will support testing and treatment technology, so Americans can be confident the water they are drinking is safe.”

“We applaud Representatives Pingree and Rouzer for introducing the Healthy H2O Act that will increase access to safer drinking water in rural communities,” said Pauli Undesser, Executive Director of the Water Quality Association. “This grant program will help Americans who are most vulnerable to contaminants in their water supply – children, the elderly, and households that rely on private wells. By increasing access to testing and water filtration products, we can support the health and safety of these communities.”

The Healthy H2O Act would:

• Provide grants for water quality testing and the purchase and installation of point-of-use or point-of-entry water quality improvement systems that remove or significantly reduce contaminants from drinking water. Grants would be provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) directly to individuals and to non-profits to help people go through the process of testing and then finding and installing a water treatment product to address their situation.
  
  
• Provide assistance to rural homeowners, renters, small business owners, licensed child-care facilities, and nonprofit organizations that can coordinate, facilitate, and assist in qualified water testing as well as serve as an educational resource.
  
  
• Require that the USDA publish public annual reports on the technologies available and purchased by eligible grant recipients, trends on steps taken to ensure safe drinking water in communities and households, and recommendations on increasing utilization of treatment.

The full text of this legislation is available here.