James Barcia: “This bill will enhance the tools that our Government has to assure a safe drinking water supply. The bill will also…”

“This bill will enhance the tools that our Government has to assure a safe drinking water supply. The bill will also protect the taxpayer, providing more flexibility to local officials by maintaining standards, but easing excessive requirements. The public has a right to clean water and has a right to know when, and by what, their water supply is at risk. For that reason, the agreement also makes the public right to know part of the law of the land. With flexibility and protection, we still have billions of dollars in unmet water infrastructure needs. This legislation incorporates provisions of the Water Supply Infrastructure Assistance Act of 1995, which provide for a new State revolving loan fund, which will provide loans and technical assistance to communities with drinking water quality problems. In discussing this historic compromise, I feel compelled by misleading comments made by a few of our colleagues to discuss a provision in the bill which provides specific assistance for several communities in our Nation. One of those communities is Bad Axe in my Fifth District of Michigan. I have been working with officials in that town for years to find a solution to their problems with arsenic, barium, and visible iron. No resources have been available to address their lack of resources. Their efforts to fix the existing system have cost money, raising citizens' monthly bills.”