Continuing the Biden-Harris Administration’s focus on implementing its economic agenda to deliver real results for the American people, President Biden and Vice President Harris are traveling to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to highlight progress made improving water infrastructure and replacing lead pipes. Through historic levels of funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, American Rescue Plan, and annual appropriations, and using regulatory tools across federal, state, and local government, the Administration is working to replace all lead service lines in America in the next decade. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests nearly $50 billion in clean water, with at least $15 billion set aside at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for loans and grants to states to remove lead service lines.

At the event in Philadelphia, the President will announce:

The City of Philadelphia is slated to receive $160 million from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s first of five years of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law water funding to help upgrade water facilities and replace over 19 miles of water mains, and the lead service lines and connections along those mains;

A $340 million Water Infrastructure and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan from EPA for the City of Philadelphia to upgrade its water system, including the first $19 million in financing that will help modernize critical infrastructure by replacing approximately 160 lead service lines and 13 miles of watermains; and,

10 communities across Pennsylvania will participate in EPA’s new “Lead Service Line Replacement Accelerators” program announced last Friday at the White House, which will  drive faster progress on removing lead service lines. Through the LSLR Accelerators initiative, EPA will provide hands-on support to guide communities through the process of lead service line removals, from start to finish, including developing lead service line replacement plans, conducting inventories to identify lead pipes, increasing community outreach and education efforts, and supporting applications for Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding.

The massive investments in water improvements will also create new good paying jobs, including jobs that do not require a college degree.