[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PREPAREDNESS AND RESILIENCE: A FOCUS ON WATER
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
SEPTEMBER 21, 2022
__________
Serial No. 117-70
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
50-234 PDF WASHINGTON : 2023
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi, Chairman
Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas John Katko, New York
James R. Langevin, Rhode Island Michael T. McCaul, Texas
Donald M. Payne, Jr., New Jersey Clay Higgins, Louisiana
J. Luis Correa, California Michael Guest, Mississippi
Elissa Slotkin, Michigan Dan Bishop, North Carolina
Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri Jefferson Van Drew, New Jersey
Al Green, Texas Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Iowa
Yvette D. Clarke, New York Diana Harshbarger, Tennessee
Eric Swalwell, California Andrew S. Clyde, Georgia
Dina Titus, Nevada Carlos A. Gimenez, Florida
Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey Jake LaTurner, Kansas
Kathleen M. Rice, New York Peter Meijer, Michigan
Val Butler Demings, Florida Kat Cammack, Florida
Nanette Diaz Barragan, California August Pfluger, Texas
Josh Gottheimer, New Jersey Andrew R. Garbarino, New York
Elaine G. Luria, Virginia Mayra Flores, Texas
Tom Malinowski, New Jersey
Ritchie Torres, New York, Vice
Chairman
Hope Goins, Staff Director
Daniel Kroese, Minority Staff Director
Natalie Nixon, Clerk
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Statements
The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress
From the State of Mississippi, and Chairman, Committee on
Homeland Security:
Oral Statement................................................. 1
Prepared Statement............................................. 2
The Honorable John Katko, a Representative in Congress From the
State of New York, and Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland
Security:
Oral Statement................................................. 3
Prepared Statement............................................. 5
Witnesses
Mr. W. Craig Fugate, Private Citizen, Former Administrator,
Federal Emergency Management Agency:
Oral Statement................................................. 6
Prepared Statement............................................. 8
Mr. David L. Gadis, CEO and General Manager, District of Columbia
Water and Sewer Authority:
Oral Statement................................................. 9
Prepared Statement............................................. 11
Ms. Abre' Conner, Director, Center for Environmental and Climate
Justice, NAACP:
Oral Statement................................................. 12
Prepared Statement............................................. 14
Mr. John O'Connell, III, Senior Vice President, National Rural
Water Association:
Oral Statement................................................. 20
Prepared Statement............................................. 22
Appendix
Question From Honorable Dina Titus for W. Craig Fugate........... 51
Question From Honorable Nanette Barragan for David L. Gadis...... 51
Question From Honorable Dina Titus for David L. Gadis............ 52
Questions From Honorable Dina Titus for Abre' Conner............. 53
CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PREPAREDNESS AND RESILIENCE: A FOCUS ON WATER
----------
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
U.S. House of Representatives,
Committee on Homeland Security,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:06 a.m., in
room 310, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Bennie G. Thompson
[Chairman of the committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Thompson, Jackson Lee, Langevin,
Payne, Slotkin, Cleaver, Clarke, Watson Coleman, Demings,
Barragan, Gottheimer, Katko, Higgins, Guest, Miller-Meeks,
Harshbarger, Gimenez, LaTurner, Meijer, Cammack, Pfluger, and
Flores.
Chairman Thompson. The Committee on Homeland Security will
be in order.
Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare the
committee in recess at any point.
Good morning. I would like to begin by saying that my
thoughts are with those living in Alaska, Puerto Rico,
California, and Oregon who are experiencing disasters. Over the
weekend, Alaskans felt the impact of a typhoon, while Puerto
Rico was hit with Hurricane Fiona, nearly 5 years to the day
since Hurricane Maria. Meanwhile, Americans in the West are
dealing with wildfires and record-breaking temperatures. As the
Nation continues to cope with simultaneous natural disasters,
and as we recognize National Preparedness Month this month,
today's hearing on preparedness and resilience is timely.
The preparedness and resilience of critical infrastructure,
and particularly water infrastructure, hits close to home. My
community of Jackson, Mississippi, suffered serious flooding
last month, which contributed to the failure of a water pumping
station and left more than 100,000 of my constituents without
clean water or appropriately managed wastewater. Residents
could not use the water coming out of their faucets to brush
their teeth, bathe, or wash the dishes. The lack of water led
to school and business closures, and tens of millions of
gallons of untreated wastewater flowed into Jackson-area
waterways. The State has recently lifted the boil water
advisory, but sporadic boil water notices continue in the city.
This crisis is not over and will not be over until we fix
the underlying problems that caused it, starting with a lack of
investment in critical infrastructure, such as our water
systems. Jackson is not alone. Many areas around the country
have suffered from disinvestment and struggle with aging
infrastructure, particularly in communities of color and low-
income areas. In fact, of the water systems that consistently
violate Federal drinking water standards, 40 percent of them
serve communities of color. That is not a coincidence. Studies
show that Black and Brown communities are more likely to bear
the brunt of natural disasters. To make matters worse,
infrastructure investments and disaster assistance are often
directed to areas that already have more resources rather than
those that desperately need it. I have seen this time and time
again as these dollars are steered away from communities like
those I represent.
Clearly, FEMA and its partners must do a better job of
ensuring that States provide Federal funding to those
communities most in need. For years, I have been a champion of
equity. This Congress I was proud to see my legislation, the
FEMA Equity Act, pass the House as part of the National Defense
Authorization Act. I intend for this legislation to be part of
a concerted effort to address the lack of equity in
infrastructure investment, disaster assistance funding, and
other Federal programs. I applaud the Biden administration's
commitment to that work, and I will do everything in my power
to ensure we make real progress for Jackson and communities
like mine across the United States.
To that end, I am looking forward to having a fruitful
discussion today about how we can invest in infrastructure,
improve preparedness, and bolster resilience so that all
communities have the tools they need to weather the storms we
face.
With that, I look forward to the discussion today and I
thank the witnesses for their participation.
[The statement of Chairman Thompson follows:]
Statement of Chairman Bennie G. Thompson
September 21, 2022
I would like to begin by saying that my thoughts are with those in
Alaska, Puerto Rico, California, and Oregon who are experiencing
disasters. Over the weekend, Alaskans felt the impact of a typhoon,
while Puerto Rico was hit with Hurricane Fiona, nearly 5 years to the
day since Hurricane Maria. Meanwhile, Americans in the West are dealing
with wildfires and record-breaking temperatures.
As the Nation continues to cope with simultaneous natural
disasters, and as we recognize National Preparedness Month this month,
today's hearing on preparedness and resilience is timely. The
preparedness and resilience of critical infrastructure, and
particularly water infrastructure, hits close to home.
My community of Jackson, Mississippi, suffered serious flooding
last month, which contributed to the failure of a water pumping station
and left more than 100,000 of my constituents without clean water or
appropriately managed wastewater. Residents could not use the water
coming out of their faucets to brush their teeth, bathe, or wash the
dishes. The lack of water led to school and business closures, and tens
of millions of gallons of untreated wastewater flowed into Jackson-area
waterways. The State has recently lifted the boil water advisory, but
sporadic boil water notices continue in the city. This crisis is not
over--and will not be over until we fix the underlying problems that
caused it, starting with a lack of investment in critical
infrastructure, such as our water systems.
Jackson is not alone--many areas around the country have suffered
from disinvestment and struggle with aging infrastructure, particularly
in communities of color and low-income areas. In fact, of the water
systems that consistently violate Federal drinking water standards, 40
percent of them serve communities of color. That is not a coincidence.
Studies show that Black and Brown communities are more likely to bear
the brunt of natural disasters.
To make matters worse, infrastructure investments and disaster
assistance are often directed to areas that already have more resources
rather than those that desperately need it. I have seen this time and
time again as these dollars are steered away from communities like
those I represent. Clearly, FEMA and its partners must do a better job
of ensuring States provide Federal funding to those communities most in
need.
For years, I have been a champion of equity--this Congress I was
proud to see my legislation, the FEMA Equity Act, pass the House as
part of the National Defense Authorization Act. I intend for this
legislation to be part of a concerted effort to address the lack of
equity in infrastructure investment, disaster assistance funding, and
other Federal programs. I applaud the Biden administration's commitment
to that work, and I will do everything in my power to ensure we make
real progress for Jackson and communities like mine across the United
States.
To that end, I am looking forward to having a fruitful discussion
today about how we can invest in infrastructure, improve preparedness,
and bolster resilience so that all communities have the tools they need
to weather the storms we face.
Chairman Thompson. The Chair recognizes the Ranking Member
of the full committee, the gentleman from New York, Mr. Katko,
for an opening statement.
Mr. Katko. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I echo your
sentiments and you will hear those are my words in a moment.
Before I begin, I would like to say that I am encouraged,
Mr. Chairman, that the water services have been restored in
Jackson, Mississippi. I realize there is still a lot more work
to be done. It is my sincere hope that the situation continues
to move in the right direction. It is my understanding that
FEMA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency are currently working with
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the city of Jackson
to identify longer-term solutions to improve the water
infrastructure in Jackson. Jackson is emblematic of a lot of
our communities Nation-wide--Flint, Michigan, for example, and
many others.
I am heartened by the fact that we have a massive
infrastructure bill that we have passed that hopefully will
provide a lot more dollars to these jurisdictions. For the life
of me, I do not understand how not everyone supported that
infrastructure bill. It is times like this when you realize how
important it really is.
I hope that the process for Jackson moves quickly because
access to clean water is critical to the overall health and
economic security of a community.
I would also like to express my concern for the on-going
situation in Puerto Rico. Hurricane Fiona has caused
catastrophic flooding and island-wide blackouts. This most
recent hurricane comes while Puerto Rico is still recovering
from Hurricanes Irma and Maria, which devastated the island 5
years ago. I lived in Puerto Rico as a prosecutor in the mid-
90's and I was struck by how dilapidated their infrastructure
was then. From what I can see it has gotten nothing but worse
and we need to help them as well.
But this is why I want to thank the Chairman for holding
this very important hearing on the cyber and fiscal threats
facing our Nation's critical infrastructure, with a particular
focus on water infrastructure. As we have seen in recent years,
America's aging infrastructure systems are increasingly
susceptible to ransomware and cyber attacks, and our water
systems are no exception.
In February 2021 a hacker remotely altered the chemicals in
a water treatment system in Oldsmar, Florida. If a plant
operator hadn't noticed the attack, it is estimated that a city
of about 15,000 people would have been exposed to highly
poisonous levels of chemicals in their water. This incident
demonstrated first-hand the real-world and devastating
consequences that a cyber attack can have on our systems.
Unfortunately, the attack in Florida was not an anomaly.
For this reason, I introduce the Department of Homeland
Security Industrial Control System Enhancement Act of 2021. My
legislation, which was co-sponsored by the Chairman, which I
appreciate, was solidified as Cybersecurity and Infrastructure
Security Agency's, or CISA's, lead role in protecting our
Nation's critical infrastructure, particularly industrial
control systems from cyber threats.
The committee's cyber subcommittee also just held the
hearing on industrial control systems cybersecurity, which
further exemplifies how Congress is taking this issue very
seriously.
In addition to being susceptible to cyber attacks, aging
water infrastructure also poses a growing threat to economic
growth, public health, and our environment. In central New
York, we are no strangers to the challenges caused by water
infrastructure. In the Finger Lakes Region harmful algal blooms
present severe health risks to humans and aquatic life, while
sustained high-water levels continue to threaten home and
businesses in communities along Lake Ontario.
That is why during my time in Congress I have led efforts
to modernize our Nation's water systems and have worked hard to
provide safe, clean, and reliable drinking water to all of my
constituents. Most recently I was proud to introduce the Water
Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2021. My legislation would
expand on local efforts to develop and deploy smart water
technology in central New York. By making this technology more
wide-spread, we will be taking meaningful steps to improve
water quality and bolster the reliability and sustainability of
our water systems.
In addition to introducing this legislation, I have also
worked with colleagues from both sides of the aisle to ensure
robust funding for the primary Federal programs that assist
State and local governments with water infrastructure needs.
The Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds. Since
their creation these programs have provided billions in
interest-free loans and grants to State and local governments
with water infrastructure needs. For this reason, I was proud
to support the recent bipartisan infrastructure bill, as I
mentioned, to bolster these crucial funding streams and to
maintain this advocacy through the Congressional appropriations
process.
As demand for these programs continues to grow, it is
critical that we keep an eye toward Federal support for the
security of our water infrastructure assets.
In conclusion, the water crisis in Jackson comes at a time
when our country is having a serious conversation about the
future of our Nation's critical infrastructure systems. While
the Members of this committee represent a wide range of
districts, rural, urban, large, and small, we have all been
impacted in some way by the issue of aging infrastructure.
Given this fact, I look forward to hearing from all of you
today about how to increase infrastructure resiliency across
the country.
Mr. Chairman, I thank you very much for your indulgence,
and apologize for being a few minutes late. That is what
happens when you have a new knee and physical therapy. But I
apologize.
But I thank you very much and I yield back the balance of
my time.
[The statement of Ranking Member Katko follows:]
Statement of Ranking Member John Katko
Mr. Chairman: Before I begin, I would like to say that I am
encouraged to hear that water services have been restored in Jackson,
Mississippi. While I realize there is still a lot more work to be done,
it is my sincere hope that the situation continues to move in the right
direction.
It is my understanding that FEMA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
(USACE), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are
currently working with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency
(MEMA) and the city of Jackson to identify longer-term solutions to
improve the water infrastructure in Jackson. I hope that this process
moves quickly, because access to clean water is critical to the overall
health and economic security of a community.
I would also like to express my concern for the on-going situation
in Puerto Rico. Hurricane Fiona has caused catastrophic flooding and
island-wide blackouts. This most recent Hurricane comes while Puerto
Rico is still recovering from Hurricanes Irma and Maria, which
devastated the island 5 years ago.
With this in mind, I want to thank the Chairman for holding this
very important hearing on the cyber and physical threats facing our
Nation's critical infrastructure, with a particular focus on water
infrastructure.
As we have seen in recent years, America's aging infrastructure
systems are increasingly susceptible to ransomware and cyber attacks.
And our water systems are no exception.
In February 2021, a hacker remotely altered the chemicals in a
water treatment system in Oldsmar, Florida. If a plant operator hadn't
noticed the attack, it's estimated that a city of about 15,000 people
would have been exposed to poisonous levels of chemicals in their
water.
This incident demonstrated first-hand the devastating, real-world
consequences that a cyber attack can have. And unfortunately, the
attack in Florida was not an anomaly.
For this reason, I introduced the DHS Industrial Control Systems
Enhancement Act of 2021. My legislation, which was cosponsored by the
Chairman, would solidify the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security
Agency's (CISA) lead role in protecting our Nation's critical
infrastructure, particularly industrial control systems (ICS), from
cyber threats. The Committee's cyber subcommittee also just held a
hearing on ICS cybersecurity, which further exemplifies how Congress is
taking this issue seriously.
In addition to being susceptible to cyber attacks, aging water
infrastructure also poses a growing threat to economic growth, public
health, and our environment.
In Central New York, we are no strangers to the challenges caused
by water infrastructure. In the Finger Lakes Region, harmful algal
blooms present severe health risks to humans and aquatic life. While
sustained high-water levels continues to threaten homes and businesses
in communities along Lake Ontario.
That is why, during my time in Congress I have led efforts to
modernize our Nation's water systems and have worked hard to provide
safe, clean, and reliable drinking water to all of my constituents.
Most recently, I was proud to introduce the Water Infrastructure
Modernization Act of 2021. My legislation would expand on local efforts
to develop and deploy smart water technology in Central New York. By
making this technology more wide-spread, we will be taking meaningful
steps to improve water quality and bolster the reliability and
sustainability of our water systems.
In addition to introducing this legislation, I have also worked
with colleagues from both sides of the aisle to ensure robust funding
for the primary Federal programs that assists State and local
governments with water infrastructure needs--the Drinking Water and the
Clean Water State Revolving Funds. Since their creation, these programs
have provided billions in interest-free loans and grants to State and
local governments with water infrastructure needs. For this reason, I
was proud to support the recent bipartisan infrastructure bill to
bolster these crucial funding streams, and to maintain this advocacy
through the Congressional appropriations process.
As demand for these programs continues to grow, it is critical that
we keep an eye toward Federal support for the security of our water
infrastructure assets.
In conclusion, the water crisis in Jackson comes at a time when our
country is having a serious conversation about the future of our
Nation's critical infrastructure systems.
While the Members of this committee represent a wide range of
districts--rural and urban, large, and small--we have all been impacted
in some way by the issue of aging infrastructure.
Given this fact, I look forward to hearing from all of our
witnesses here today about how to increase infrastructure resiliency
across the country.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and with that I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman yields back.
Other Members of the committee are reminded that under the
committee rules opening statements may be submitted for the
record.
Members are also reminded that the committee will operate
according to the guidelines laid out by the Chairman and
Ranking Member in our February 3, 2021 colloquy regarding
remote procedures.
I welcome our panel of witnesses.
Our first witness, Mr. Craig Fugate, was administrator of
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, commonly referred to
as FEMA, from 2009 until 2017. He led the agency's response to
multiple record-breaking storms and over 500 Presidentially-
declared major disasters and emergencies. Prior to his service
at FEMA, Mr. Fugate served as director of the Florida Division
of Emergency Management.
Our second witness, Mr. David Gadis, is the CEO and general
manager of D.C. Water, one of the Nation's largest water
utilities where he oversees a $1 billion annual budget and
leads approximately 1,200 employees. Mr. Gadis also serves as
member of the President's National Infrastructure Advisory
Committee.
Our third witness, Ms. Abre' Conner, is the director of the
environmental and climate justice for the NAACP. In that
capacity she oversees strategy and collaboration across the
association to dismantle environmental racism.
Our final witness, Mr. John O'Connell, is senior vice
president of the National Rural Water Association. In NRWA he
helps lead the organization's work to train, support, and
promote the water and wastewater professionals serving small
communities across the country, especially like one that I live
in. We are glad to have you.
Without objection, the witnesses' full statements will be
included in the record.
The Chair asks each witness to summarize his or her
statement for 5 minutes beginning with Mr. Fugate.
STATEMENT OF W. CRAIG FUGATE, PRIVATE CITIZEN, FORMER
ADMINISTRATOR, FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY
Mr. Fugate. Well, good morning, Mr. Chairman, Ranking
Member Katko, and other Members of the committee. It is an
honor to be here.
What happened in Jackson, Mississippi I think a lot of
people dismissed as well, that is Jackson, Mississippi, that is
there, it won't happen to other places. But in my history of
responding to disasters, I have seen systems come so close that
much larger systems almost failed. Example, the 2010 record-
setting floods in Nashville impacted both of their water
treatment plants. One was flooded and shut down, resulting in
50 percent of the capacity for the Nashville region losing
potable water. The other facility came within 1 foot of
failure, and only by heroic sandbagging efforts could they save
it. It took over 30 days to repair the first facility before
they could get full water back up to Nashville. As the Ranking
Member pointed out, this was not only public safety in drinking
water, it was economic, because it slowed down the recovery
because they couldn't even bring back their tourism venues
until they got that plant back on-line. That is not the only
story.
Columbia, South Carolina, 2014. Record-setting floods blew
out the intake canal to the water treatment plan for the city
of Columbia, South Carolina. This was when Nikki Haley was
Governor. The National Guard literally was taking helicopters
flying 3,000-pound sandbags trying to rebuild and fortify that
intake so they would not lose the water system.
Then we know about Flint, Michigan. But once again, FEMA
was asked to come in on an emergency basis when a system failed
because of extremely high lead levels. And in that response,
FEMA was engaged in emergency action, including helping
distribute bottled water, water filters, and other support for
over 8 months.
Those are just tips of the iceberg. But the thing that I
want to focus on is the record-setting flooding. If you look at
most water systems, those that depend upon surface water were
built based upon the 100-year flood zone, which is a misnomer.
There is no such thing as a 100-year flood zone. It comes from
the National Flood Insurance who rate maps of a special risk
area. This terminology that we have used is really confusing
when we say we are looking at 100-year floods or 1 percent
risk, was based on historical average looking back 100 years.
But as the Washington Post published a couple of weeks ago, we
had 5 1,000-year events in 5 weeks. So not only do we have
aging infrastructure, which EPA estimates about $750 billion
worth of repairs need to be made. Many of our water treatment
plants across the Nation are at increasing risk in these
extreme rainfall flood events because they were built for the
last 100 years. This comes from the General Accounting Office
recommendations back to Congress at the request of the Senate
Committee to make recommendations on how we start building
climate resilience into our critical infrastructure. What is
happening in Puerto Rico reinforces that. Merely building back
what was there, only to be destroyed once again, is not a good
investment of my tax dollars, sir. As a Federal taxpayer, I
would be willing to pay a little bit more on the front end so
we are not coming back time and time again with these types of
failures.
So it is a combination of problems that is both an aging
infrastructure--in many cases, smaller communities, communities
of color, rural communities, lack of resources to maintain the
systems, increased risk of natural hazards--mainly flooding,
but drought is also driving a lot of these impacts, and a
tendency to want to get back in there quickly, make repairs,
and move on without really understanding that building for
climate resilience means you have got to build for the future,
not for the past.
With that, I will stand by for questions, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Fugate follows:]
Prepared Statement of W. Craig Fugate
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member Katko, and Members of the
committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today.
With the recent reports from the Jackson, Mississippi on their
drinking water system, both flooding and preexisting conditions
resulted in the total failure of the system. We are seeing more record-
setting floods impact aging drinking water infrastructure across the
Nation. What happened in Jackson is not an exception, but an indicator
for future failures.
My questions are, how many community drinking water systems are at
risk of similar failure? And, with a marked increase in extreme flood
events, how many drinking water systems that were build to standards
based on past flood risk history will fail in the next record-setting
flood?
background
Department of Homeland Security has established Water and
Wastewater systems as National Critical Functions (NCF's). Per DHS,
``Safe drinking water is central to the life of an individual and of
society, a drinking water contamination incident or the failure of
drinking water services would have far-reaching public health,
economic, environmental, and psychological impacts across the Nation.
Other critical services such as fire protection, health care, and
heating and cooling processes would also be disrupted by the
interruption or cessation of drinking water service, resulting in
significant consequences to the national or regional economies''\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ DHS, The 2015 Water and Wastewater Sector-Specific Plan.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
``Every day, more than 150,000 public water systems provide
drinking water to millions of Americans and U.S. wastewater treatment
facilities process approximately 34 billion gallons of wastewater.
Considered National Critical Functions (NCFs), both the ability to
`supply water' and `manage wastewater' are functions of government and
the private sector so vital to the U.S. that their disruption,
corruption, or dysfunction would have a debilitating effect on
security, national economic security, national public health or safety,
or any combination thereof''.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ https://www.cisa.gov/ncf-water.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
During my time as FEMA Administrator (2009-2017), I oversaw the
response to numerous flood and other disasters that impacted water
treatment facilities. Notable events include:
2010 Floods, Nashville, Tennessee
K.R. Harrington Water Treatment Plant (WTP) was flooded and the
other major WTP, Omohundro, came within 1 foot of flooding as well.
Metro Water Services was reduced to 50 percent capacity for a month
while repairs to the Harrington WTP were completed.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/b-one-year-later-b-how-the-
flood-almost-left-nashville-without-water/article_cf2ea3e3-0947-5b3b-
afc2-aec5df825ae8.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015 Floods, Columbia, South Carolina
A canal that serves as the main source of drinking water for about
half of the Columbia water system's 375,000 customers collapsed in two
places following historic rainfall and flooding over the weekend,
sending contractors scrambling to build a rock dam to plug the holes
while National Guard helicopters dropped giant sandbags in the rushing
water.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ https://toronto.citynews.ca/2015/10/08/as-flooding-recedes-
after-historic-rains-coming-home-in-south-carolina-can-lead-to-
heartbreak/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Water Crisis, Flint, Michigan
High lead levels and other issues resulted in a Presidential
Emergency Declaration with FEMA providing support to the State of
Michigan for 8 months.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5353852/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not considering the impacts of disasters on drinking water systems,
many water systems are behind in replacing aging infrastructure. Both
the American Water Works Association \6\ and the EPA identify renewal
and replacement of ageing water infrastructure as a primary concern.
EPA estimates that drinking water and wastewater utilities need to
invest almost $744 billion to repair and replace their existing
infrastructure over the next 20 years.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ https://www.awwa.org/AWWA-Articles/awwas-state-of-the-water-
industry-report-now-available.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adding to issue of aging infrastructure, poor financial health of
some drinking water systems has resulted in delayed maintenance, low
staffing levels, lack of training, that increases the likelihood of
system failures.
next steps
The General Accounting Office (GAO) was asked to review what
Federal actions may be taken to reduce the potential impacts of climate
change and related effects on drinking water and wastewater
infrastructure. Their report ``Technical Assistance and Climate
Resilience Planning Could Help Utilities Prepare for Potential Climate
Change Impacts'' GAO-20-24 Published: Jan 16, 2020. Publicly Released:
Feb 13, 2020.
GAO recommends that EPA identify technical assistance providers and
engage them in a network to help water utilities incorporate climate
resilience into infrastructure projects.
GAO also recommends that Congress should consider requiring that
climate resilience be incorporated in the planning of all drinking
water and wastewater projects that receive Federal financial assistance
from programs that EPA, FEMA, HUD, and USDA administer.
I recommend that this committee consider requesting relevant
agencies conduct a risk assessment of existing drinking water
facilities based on increasing flood risk and aging infrastructure to
identify vulnerable communities.
And finally, these reviews should consider past actions that have
resulted in lack of investment or barriers to Federal funding at the
local level for repairing and upgrading drinking water systems.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you for your testimony, Mr.
Fugate.
The Chair recognizes Mr. Gadis to summarize his statement
for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF DAVID L. GADIS, CEO AND GENERAL MANAGER, DISTRICT
OF COLUMBIA WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY
Mr. Gadis. Thank you very much.
Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member Katko, and distinguished
Members of the committee, I am David Gadis, CEO and general
manager of D.C. Water and a member of President Biden's
National Infrastructure Advisory Council. Thank you for the
opportunity to testify today on the resiliency of the Nation's
critical water infrastructure and the importance of making
environmental justice and water equity part of that
conversation.
As CEO of D.C. Water, I oversee a $1 billion annual budget,
a work force of approximately 1,200 employees, the distribution
of drinking water in the Nation's capitol, and the largest
advanced wastewater treatment plant in the world that provides
services to nearly 700,000 residents in Washington, DC and
another 1.6 million residents in the neighboring counties of
Maryland and Virginia.
Since taking leadership in 2018 a goal of mine has been to
lead transformation initiatives related to environmental
justice and water equity, including our first-in-class customer
assistance programs and Lead-Free D.C. initiative, which will
eliminate all lead service lines within the District by 2030.
As the recent water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi has
highlighted, Federal policy to secure the resilience of the
Nation's critical water infrastructure must include
consideration of environmental justice and water equity and
climate change. As the funds for water investment are
distributed from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, we
must be sure these resources are distributed on an equitable
basis to all communities. In my role serving communities in the
District of Columbia who have often been overlooked for these
investments in the past, I have a unique vantage point on these
issues and know that today's under-investment is tomorrow's
crisis.
Our primary mission at D.C. Water is to deliver clean,
safe, and reliable drinking water to our residents. This
includes protecting water and wastewater infrastructure from
potential threats, including physical and cyber attacks. As
part of this on-going cyber resiliency effort, D.C. Water is a
member of the sector of the National Cybersecurity Task Force.
We are also partnering with the Environmental Protection
Agency, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, as
well, and Water Sector Coordinating Council, also known as
WSCC.
To help develop recommendations for improving cybersecurity
for our sector, our cybersecurity model is based on the NIST's
cybersecurity framework. We limit access to physical facilities
and data systems, we have continuous monitoring of an analysis
of our systems for potential threats and are able to block
attacks and maintain systems. Maintaining a strong cyber
defense is just as much a part of our infrastructure as
maintaining our pipes and filtration systems. Robust planning
for cybersecurity is no longer optional in the water sector. It
is a key part of what we do every day.
The Federal Government is a key partner in maintaining and
upgrading water infrastructure. For example, I am pleased that
last month FEMA announced a $20 million grant for construction
of a flood wall around Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant
here in the District of Columbia. This grant will help support
resilience against predicted sea-level rise, providing
protection for a plant that serves over 2 million people in the
District, also in Maryland and Virginia.
Also in my newly-appointed role as the water utility expert
on the President's National Infrastructure Advisory Council, I
am looking forward to working with the White House on how to
improve local and Federal partnerships and improve security and
resilience of the Nation's critical water sector.
Further, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act gives
us an important initial investment in starting the process to
restore our aging water infrastructure and also wastewater
infrastructure.
As we look to building a long-term resilience into critical
infrastructure, I would ask that Congress continue its
commitment to grow this water infrastructure funding as there
is still much work to be done. For example, not all the water
infrastructure programs that are created in today's bills are
actually funded. I ask that Congress fully fund all the water
infrastructure programs that were authorized in the IHAA in the
fiscal year 2023 appropriations legislation, including two
programs that would directly support the physical and the cyber
resiliency within the water sector.
In my role with D.C. Water I know that there are many
challenges ahead, however I also know these challenges can be
met. The issues facing water utilities are not insurmountable,
but they are complex.
Again, I thank you for inviting me to testify before you
today and I look forward to working with you to tackle these
policy issues head on.
Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Gadis follows:]
Prepared Statement of David L. Gadis
September 21, 2022, 10 A.M.
Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member Katko, and distinguished Members
of the committee, I am David Gadis, CEO and general manager of DC Water
and a member of President Biden's National Infrastructure Advisory
Council. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the
resiliency of the Nation's critical water infrastructure and the
importance of making environmental justice and water equity part of
that conversation.
As CEO of DC Water, I oversee a $1 billion annual budget, a
workforce of approximately 1,200 employees, the distribution of
drinking water in the Nation's capital, and the largest advanced
wastewater treatment plant in the world that provides services for
nearly 700,000 residents in Washington DC and another 1.6 million
residents in neighboring counties in Maryland and Virginia. Since
taking leadership in 2018, a goal of mine has been to lead
transformative initiatives related to environmental justice and water
equity including our first-in-class customer assistance programs and
the Lead Free DC initiative, which will eliminate all lead service
lines within the District by 2030.
As the recent water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi has highlighted,
Federal policy to secure the resilience of the Nation's critical water
infrastructure must include consideration of environmental justice and
water equity, and climate change. As the funds for water investment are
distributed from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, we must be
sure these resources are distributed on an equitable basis to all
communities. In my role serving communities in the District of Columbia
who have often been overlooked for these investments in the past, I
have a unique vantage point on these issues and know that today's
underinvestment is tomorrow's crisis.
Our primary mission at DC Water is to deliver clean, safe, and
reliable drinking water to our residents. This includes protecting
water and wastewater infrastructure from potential threats, including
physical and cyber attacks. As part of this on-going cyber resiliency
effort, DC Water, as a member of the Water Sector National Cyber
Security Taskforce, is partnering with the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA),
and Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC) to help develop
recommendations for improving cyber security for the sector. Our cyber
security model is based on the NIST cybersecurity framework. We limit
access to physical facilities and data systems, have continuous
monitoring and analysis of all our systems for potential threats, and
are able to block attacks and maintain systems. Maintaining a strong
cyber defense is just as much a part of our infrastructure as
maintaining our pipes and filtration systems. Robust planning for
cybersecurity is no longer optional in the water sector--it is a key
part of what we do every day.
The Federal Government is a key partner in maintaining and
upgrading our water infrastructure. For example, I'm pleased that last
month FEMA announced a $20 million grant for construction of a
floodwall around the Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant. This grant
will help support resilience against predicted sea-level rise,
providing protection for a plant that serves over 2 million people in
the District, Maryland, and Virginia.
Also, in my newly-appointed role as the water utility expert on the
President's National Infrastructure Advisory Council, I am looking
forward to working with the White House on how to improve local and
Federal partnerships and improve the security and resilience of the
Nation's critical water infrastructure sector.
Further, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) gives us
an important initial investment in starting the process to restore our
aging water and wastewater infrastructure. As we look to build long-
term resilience into this critical infrastructure, I would ask that
Congress continue its commitment to grow this water infrastructure
funding, as there is still much work to be done. For example, not all
of the water infrastructure programs that were created in IIJA were
actually funded. I ask that Congress fully fund ALL the water
infrastructure programs that were authorized in IIJA in the fiscal year
2023 appropriations legislation--including two programs that would
directly support both physical and cyber resiliency within the water
sector: The Midsize and Large Drinking Water System Infrastructure
Resilience and Sustainability Program; and the Clean Water
Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Program.
In addition to increased, sustained Federal funding, Congress has
the ability to increase our resiliency by creating a secondary water
source for National Capital region. Currently, DC Water is wholly
reliant on the Potomac River as the source of our drinking water, and
other local utilities in Maryland and Virginia are in the same
position. In the event of an incident--from an accidental chemical
spill to a terrorist attack--our region has no good alternative water
source. The first step to solving this problem is to authorize the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers to study our best options. I want to thank the
Members of the House of Representatives for their near-unanimous vote
to authorize this study and ask that you urge your Senate colleagues to
accept the House's provision in the final Water Resources Development
Act later this year.
In my role with DC Water, I know that there are many challenges
ahead. However, I also know these challenges can be met. The issues
facing water utilities are not insurmountable but they are complex.
Again, I thank you for inviting me to testify before you today, and I
look forward to working with you to tackle these policy issues head-on.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you for your testimony.
The Chair now recognizes Ms. Conner to summarize her
statement for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF ABRE' CONNER, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL
AND CLIMATE JUSTICE, NAACP
Ms. Conner. Good morning, Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member
Katko, and Members of the Committee on Homeland Security.
My name is Abre' Conner and I am the director for the
Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at the NAACP and a
member of the faculty of the Environmental Policy and
Management Program at UC Davis. Thank you for the opportunity
to testify before this committee.
The history of disinvestment is evident in Black
communities facing obstacles to actually creating a lasting
legacy. Indeed, without immediate action Black communities will
continue to live a legacy deferred. Over the last several years
we have seen that failing water systems and deficient
infrastructure create crisis within community function. In
cities like Jackson, Mississippi; Flint, Michigan; and
Baltimore, Maryland alone, there are likely hundreds of
thousands of Black people who have had brown water or toxins
like E. coli flowing through their faucets.
Additionally, disinvestments feel intentional when there is
a pattern of scarce resources in Black cities. For example,
since 1996 Mississippi has received Federal funding for
drinking water systems, however Jackson has received
allocations for Federal funding in just 2 of those last 25
years.
The situation in Jackson is just one example of how
majority-Black cities and towns across the country have been
treated in our Nation's history, continuing to the present day.
My full written testimony provides examples of patterns of
disinvestments in communities from nearly a century ago, like
Allensworth and Rosewood. The legacy that Black people hope for
and the constant similarities to deprive them of resources in
places like Jackson today.
We continue to see this disinvestment because often State
agencies and State legislators control what funding reaches
Black communities. History is indeed repeating itself. For
weeks, I spent time meeting with Jackson residents who state
that they had been using bottled water for decades because it
has been normalized as simply what people do. Although Jackson
has shared with the Governor detailed plans that outline the
urgency of the water infrastructure issues for years, the
Governor rarely, if ever, responds.
We now have new Federal investments, but the State being
the first recipient creates barriers for Jackson. Mississippi
received almost $75 million under the bipartisan infrastructure
law. During the Jackson water crisis, Mississippi submitted a
funding structure that would cap loan forgiveness at $500,000
knowing that it would take billions to fix Jackson's water
system. Moreover, to receive American Rescue Plan funding the
State passed a law that required only Jackson to receive a
second set of approval through the Department of Finance and
Administration, adding time to fix urgent issues and yet again
cementing another legacy deferred.
Unfortunately, the situation in Jackson is not the first
time that we have seen Black cities struggle due to the lack of
support and infrastructure. In Flint, Michigan the NAACP filed
suit because of the gross negligence of officials that failed
to detect a water problem. Then, when the water crisis was
known to harm Black people, the public was told to continue
drinking water despite understanding that it was contaminated.
In Baltimore, another predominantly Black city, E. coli was
found in the water as recently as a few weeks ago.
Because these issues are systemic, there is a long history
of incrementally poor decisions that leave Black cities
debilitated. Congress has the ability to actualize the legacy
Black communities hope for.
My full recommendations are in my written testimony.
First, I encourage Congress to pass the Environmental
Justice For All Act and for this committee to assess the
effectiveness of State oversight in historically disadvantaged
communities for disaster preparedness. There needs to be more
granular and disaggregated data for accountability as well as
diversification of funding streams that are not loans. The lack
of the private right of action under Title 6 and meaningful
technical assistance remain concerns. Additionally, better
coordination and collaboration are needed at a Federal level.
We will continue to highlight the egregious conditions of
Jackson's water system and how the actions of State actors have
caused discriminatory impact. But action from this Congress and
the entire Federal Government is needed to ensure that there
aren't similar crises in other communities.
We have made strides in the environmental and climate
justice space; however, history will continue to repeat itself
if we do not learn from the past. We need urgent action to
ensure that this Congress is remembered as the body that helped
to break the cycle.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Conner follows:]
Prepared Statement of Abre' Conner
September 21, 2022
i. introduction
Good morning Chairman Thompson and Members of the committee on
Homeland Security. My name is Abre' Conner, and I am the director for
the Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at the NAACP and a
faculty member of the Environmental Policy and Management Program at
the University of California, Davis. Thank you for the opportunity to
testify before this committee during National Disaster Preparedness
Month regarding resilience and security within Black and low-income
communities across the country.
Over the last several years, we have seen that failing water
systems and deficient infrastructure interfere with the fundamental
operation of key community functions.\1\ We meet at a historic moment
as the Biden administration has elevated environmental justice through
efforts like the Justice40 Initiative.\2\ Moreover, the Inflation
Reduction Act offers the largest direct environmental justice
investments to date in the United States.\3\ Pursuant to the Safe
Drinking Water Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (``EPA'') has
authority to allocate $50 million to midsize and large drinking water
systems for the specific purpose of improving resilience to hazards
including attacks to cybersecurity that weaken communities.\4\ These
allocations reflect the critical impact of climate issues on our
communities. The effect of climate change on Black people has finally
come into National focus because Black people experience the most
horrific impacts from historic disinvestment in communities.
Communities that are years or decades behind on infrastructure
maintenance and repairs are ill-prepared for disasters to come. Failure
to invest in Black communities and the ramifications that follow are
rooted in a history of environmental racism that continues to this day.
If we examine the effects on cities like Jackson, Mississippi
(``Jackson''), Flint, Michigan, and Baltimore, Maryland
(``Baltimore''), alone, there are likely hundreds of thousands of Black
people who have had brown water or toxins like E. coli flowing through
their faucets within the last several years--a source of water meant to
do daily tasks such as brushing their teeth, bathing children and
showering, or drinking.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ News21 Staff, et al., Crumbling pipes, tainted water plague
black communities, Center for Public Integrity, (Aug. 21, 2017),
https://publicintegrity.org/environment/crumbling-pipes-tainted-water-
plague-black-communities/; Jennifer Allen, Report Links Racial,
Environmental Justice, Coastal Review Online (Sept. 9, 2020), https://
coastalreview.org/2020/09/report_links-racial-environmental-justice/.
\2\ The White House, Justice 40 A Whole-of-Government Initiative,
https://www.whitehouse.gov/environmentaljustice/justice40/ (last
visited Sept. 16. 2022).
\3\ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Pub. L. No. 117-2 (2021,
https://www.Congress.gov/117/plaws/publ2/PLAW_117publ2.pdf; EPA, The
Inflation Reduction Act: A Big Deal for People and the Planet (Aug. 26,
2022), https://www.epa.gov/perspectives/inflation-reduction-act-big-
deal-people-and-planet; Press Release, NAACP, NAACP President Derrick
Johnson on Today's Signing of the Inflation Reduction Act, (Aug, 16,
2022), https://naacp.org/articles/naacp-president-derrick-johnson-
todays-signing-inflation-reduction-act.
\4\ Midsize and Large Drinking Water System Infrastructure
Resilience and Sustainability Program, 42 U.S.C. 300j-19g(f); Edward
Mahaffey, JDSUPRA, Congress Provides Substantial Funding for a Variety
of Water Projects in Infrastructure Law With Emphasis on Low Income
Communities, (Dec. 27, 2021), https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/
congress-provides-substantial-funding-6794946/.
\5\ Molly Schwartz, The Water Crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, Is a
Dire Warning Sign, Mother Jones, (Mar. 24, 2021), https://
www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/03/water-crisis-in-jackson-
mississippi-is-a-dire-warning-sign/; Natasha Noman, People of Flint
Want You to See These Images of the Water They Were Told Was Safe to
Drink, Mic, https://www.mic.com/articles/132732/people-of-flint-want-
you-to-see-these-images-of-the-water-they-were-told-was-safe-to-drink;
David Collins, `Abysmal, disapponting': DPW's handling of E. coli water
contamination information criticized, WBALTV 11 (Sept. 15, 2022 6:09
PM), https://www.wbaltv.com/article/baltimore-city-council-e-coli-
water-contamination-first-hearing/41232055#; United States Census
Bureau, QuickFacts Jackson city, Mississippi, https://www.census.gov/
quickfacts/fact/table/jacksoncitymississippi/BZA115220 (last visited
Sept. 16, 2022); United States Census Bureau, QuickFacts Flint,
Michigan, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/flintcitymichigan (last
visited Sept. 18, 2022); United States Census Bureau, QuickFacts
Baltimore, Maryland, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/
baltimorecitymaryland (last visited Sept. 18, 2022); Telephone
conversation with NAACP Maryland State and Baltimore city leadership
(September 7, 2022) (notes on file, NAACP headquarters); Roundtable
Conversation with Jackson Residents (September 7, 2022) (notes on file,
NAACP Headquarters); Zoom conversation with NAACP unit leaders across
country (September 1, 2022) (notes on file, NAACP headquarters).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Moreover, schools are affected by this systematic disinvestment. In
Jackson, students have been bounced from in-person to virtual learning
because of poor water quality. In some cases, school teachers and
administrators have been forced to build contingency plans for flushing
toilets when water pressure is low instead of teaching students in the
classroom. In Jackson, health care facilities that previously relied on
local water plants have been forced to develop costly alternatives to
local water systems to ensure that patients have access to hygienic
care when water available through the city is not clean. Moreover, lack
of transparency around water quality and other public services has
engendered distrust of government services in many communities.
Lack of transparency at a resident level regarding the flow of
funds from Federal appropriations to States and localities as well as a
lack of community input are critical issues for Black communities.
State governments are typically the starting point for localities to
access funding to rebuild water infrastructure. A key issue in Black
communities is minimal access to financial resources without strings
attached for use in repairing, replacing, and maintaining critical
infrastructure. Disinvestment has also harmed efforts in communities of
color to develop and support reporting systems to alert residents of
critical rates of pollution.
Since 1996, Mississippi has received Federal funding for drinking
water systems. However, Jackson has received allocations of Federal
funding in just two of the last 25 years. When Federal funding became
available as a part of the bipartisan infrastructure law, Jackson
received only a small sum of funds with limitations on its use, despite
the city's crumbling infrastructure. The situation in Jackson is just
one example of how majority Black cities and towns around the country
have been treated in our Nation's history, continuing to the present
day.
The issue of water infrastructure ownership and nonresponsive State
elected officials during disasters affecting Black populations runs
deep in American history.\6\ As outlined below, over a century ago,
Black communities experienced intentional deprivation of the city's
water infrastructure that debilitated progress.\7\ This historic
pattern must be changed through intentional action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ Chihiro Tamefusa, Environmental Justice in Remediation: Tools
for Community Empowerment (2016). (B.A. thesis, Pomona College) http://
scholarship.claremont.edu/pomona_theses/144.
\7\ Infra Part II.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today, I hope to make clear through my testimony the depth and
breadth of water and infrastructure issues that have affected Black
communities for years, why something must be done now, and how Congress
plays a critical role in next steps.
ii. water needs and racist roots of diminishing black community
progress
Black people have always cared about environmental and climate
issues but have often been left out of meaningful engagement with
policy makers and advocates to assist our communities. Unfortunately,
the tradition of tearing down and purposefully thwarting Black efforts
at sustainability and stability of infrastructure is nothing new.\8\
Injustices in Rosewood, Florida and Allensworth, California resemble
the intentional dispossession of resources we continue to witness in
Black communities today.\9\ In 1923, Rosewood was a small but
prosperous Black town. Because a white woman accused a Black man of
beating her, white mobs completely burned the community. Florida's
Governor offered no assistance to the town despite knowing about the
tragedy. Currently, there are many Black communities across the country
that have been categorically excluded from State resources.\10\ We have
seen this disinvestment because often, State agencies and State
legislatures control what funding reaches Black communities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ Jennifer Allen, Report Links Racial, Environmental Justice,
Coastal Review Online, (Sept. 9, 2020), https://coastalreview.org/2020/
09/report-links-racial-environmental-justice/.
\9\ R. Thomas Dye, Rosewood, Florida: The Destruction Of An African
American Community, The Historian 605-622, http://users.clas.ufl.edu/
davidson/arch%20of%20aa%20life%20and%- 20culture/Week%2011-14/
Dye,%20Historian%20Vol%2058(3)%20Spring%201996.pdf (last visited Sep.
16, 2022); Bilal G. Morris, The Downfall of Allensworth: How Racisim
And Lies Destroyed A Black Town In California, Newsone (May 16, 2022),
https://newsone.com/4337335/allensworth-california-black-town-
destroyed-by-racism/; Erica Rose Thomson, Allensworth: Preserving the
Cemetery of ``The Town That Refused To Die'' (Nov. 29, 2017) (Master of
Arts Thesis, Sonoma State University https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/
downloads/ng451j09p?- locale=en.
\10\ R. Thomas Dye, Rosewood, Florida: The Destruction Of An
African American Community, The Historian 605-622, http://
users.clas.ufl.edu/davidson/arch%20of%20aa%20life%20- and%20culture/
Week%2011-14/Dye,%20Historian%20Vol%2058(3)%20Spring%201996.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Water issues have persisted in Black communities for centuries as
well. Around the time of the Rosewood fires, Allensworth, California
also experienced destruction motivated by racism. Allensworth was the
only California town to be founded, financed, and governed by Black
people. Allensworth's economy failed due to resource scarcity,
including water resources under the control of town officials.\11\
Agriculture was a key component of Allensworth's financial
sustainability. A company that owned and exercised control in
agriculture acted to prevent the town from accessing water sources.
Subsequently, the community crumbled.\12\ A century later, we continue
to see how Black communities are deprived of access to clean and
drinkable water without methods to localize ownership and management
within their own communities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ Erica Rose Thomson, Allensworth: Preserving the Cemetery of
``The Town That Refused To Die'' (Nov. 29, 2017) (Master of Arts
Thesis), Sonoma State University, https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/
downloads/ng451j09p?locale=en.
\12\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Decades after the Rosewood Massacre and Allensworth tragedy,
studies demonstrated the link between the disregard for Black people's
health and environmental issues based on where Black people lived. In
1987, the United Church of Christ published ``Toxic Waste and Race''
that demonstrated Black people and other people of color were more
likely to live near toxic waste incinerators.\13\ Twenty years later,
the United Church of Christ refreshed the study, concluding that
communities of color still disproportionately lived near
environmentally hazardous areas.\14\ We continue to see these trends in
the placement of incinerators in Black neighborhoods.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\13\ Commission for Racial Justice, United Church of Christ, Toxic
Wastes and Race In The United States: A National Report on the Racial
and Socio-Economic Characteristics of Communities with Hazardous Waste
Sites (1987), http://uccfiles.com/pdf/ToxicWastes&Race.pdf.
\14\ United Church of Christ, Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty 1987-
2007 (Mar. 2007), https://www.ucc.org/wp_content/uploads/2021/03/toxic-
wastes-and-race-at-twenty-1987-2007.pdf.
\15\ Letter from Lilian S. Dorka, Director External Civil Rights
Compliance Office, Office of General Counsel EPA to Keith Harley &
Nancy C. Loeb (Jan. 25, 2021) https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/
20463603/2021-1-25-final-complainant-acceptance-letter-01rno-21-r5.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notably, even as Black people face these harms, Black stories of
environmental issues have long been underpromoted, along with
challenges in engaging decision makers to drive toward solutions.
Historically, Black and other communities of color united to advance
their stories as a matter of survival because Black people were not
welcomed in many traditional environmental spaces.
iii. water crisis in jackson: a present catastrophe
a. Jackson's crisis is rooted in historical disinvestment
History is indeed repeating itself. Over the past several weeks, I
have spent time in Jackson, Mississippi talking with individuals whose
stories feel eerily similar to the intentional deprivation and racial
inequities that have harmed Black localities for centuries. Jackson is
nearly 83 percent Black, and the student population is also
predominately Black.\16\ Residents have told me that water issues have
now become critical for Black children and their education, as staff of
the local school district have spent much of their day flushing toilets
instead of teaching. Black health is at risk because dentists and
doctors in Jackson must daily contemplate whether they will be able to
perform emergency health procedures that utilize water as the
foundation of medical care. And Jackson residents have used bottled
water for years because it has been normalized as simply what people
do. Issues regarding water quality, water pressure, and infrastructure
are significantly impacting the lives of Jackson residents.\17\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\16\ United States Census Bureau, QuickFacts Jackson city,
Mississippi, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/
jacksoncitymississippi/BZA115220 (last visisted Sept. 16, 2022).
\17\ Chi Chi Izundu, et al., Jackson water crisis: A legacy of
environmental racism, BBC News (Sept. 4, 2022), https://www.bbc.com/
news/world-us-canada-62783900; Press Release, NAACP, NAACP President
Derrick Johnson's Statement on Jackson, MS Water Crisis, (Sept. 1,
2022), https://naacp.org/articles/naacp-statement-jackson-ms-water-
crisis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The NAACP heard directly from several community members that they
do not believe Jackson receives its fair share when money is allocated
for different needs across the State. They also believe this occurs
because Jackson is predominately Black. Jackson's residents have seen
first-hand that neighboring communities do not have similar issues
affecting water quality. Additionally, the State has continuously tried
to take power away from Jackson's elected Black leadership within its
own city. This strategic effort to disempower Jackson residents is
nothing new. For example, for almost a decade, in certain city
projects, Jackson has sought approvals from a commission that controls
projects funded by a one percent sales tax.\18\ The 10-person oversight
commission has only three seats appointed by its own mayor to advocate
Jackson's projects.\19\ No other city within the State has had this
process imposed to approve infrastructure projects. And, although
Jackson has shared with the Governor detailed plans that outline the
urgency of its water infrastructure issues for years,\20\ the Governor
rarely, if ever, responds.\21\ Jackson feels like a modern-day Rosewood
because the Governor has the ability to help, but has refused.\22\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\18\ MS Code 27-65-241 (2019); Dustin Barnes, Mayor names picks
for 1 percent sales tax commission, Clarion Ledger, (July 2, 2014),
https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2014/07/02/tax-
commission/12072235/.
\19\ Id.
\20\ Letter from Mayor Lumumba to Governor Reeves regarding need
for emergency funding for Jackson's water (Mar. 3, 2021) (on file at
NAACP office, Washington, DC); city of Jackson Department of Public
Works Engineering Division Memo re: 2022 Infrastructure Legislative
Funding Requests (Water/Wastewater) (on file at NAACP office,
Washington, DC).
\21\ Sharie Nicole and Quentin Smith, Lumumba defends city against
Reeves' comments about Jackson's failure to produce a water system
improvement plan, WLOX, (Sept. 6, 2022), https://www.wlox.com/2022/09/
06/lumumba-fires-back-against-reeves-comments-about-citys-failure-
produce-real-water-system-improvement-plan/.
\22\ Chi Chi Izundu, et al., Jackson water crisis: A legacy of
environmental racism, BBC News (Sept. 4, 2022) https://www.bbc.com/
news/world-us-canada-62783900; Democracy Now, Jackson's Water Crisis
Comes After $90M Contract with Siemens to Overhaul System ``Ended up a
Disaster'', Democracy Now (Sept. 12, 2022), https://
www.democracynow.org/2022/9/12/
jackson_mississippi_water_crisis_flood_treatment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Rosewood, the Governor knew that, without help, Rosewood would
surely burn. And in Jackson, the Governor knows that without funding,
Jackson will continue to crumble. Jackson mirrors aspects of
Allensworth because water, a critical component of city operations, was
intentionally neglected by the State. In Jackson, similar to
Allensworth, the State understands the power of water ownership, and
thus purposefully has withheld its support from Black residents. A
century later, Jackson faces the State's purposeful withholding of
funding to improve the quality of water, a valued resource and most
important asset of the city.
Currently, the State holds several different Federal allocations of
funds and has made it nearly impossible for Jackson, its State capital,
to receive funding. Mississippi received almost $75 million from the
State Revolving Fund which is only the first allotment that will be
provided over a 5-year period under the Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law.\23\ And in the midst of the Jackson water crisis, Mississippi
built a funding structure that would cap loans for public water systems
in the State at $5 million and loan forgiveness at $500,000, knowing
that it would take billions to fix Jackson's water system.\24\ Indeed,
for cities like Jackson, this will not make a dent for the projects
needed to fix its water. And, there is interest on the loans, putting a
city like Jackson even further in debt within this funding structure.
The EPA released statements that outlined ``[a] fundamental principle
of the [State revolving funds] is the flexibility provided to States''
and stated that ``disadvantaged communities can include . . .
communities of color.''\25\ But, contrary to building power for
Jackson, the Governor used this opportunity to hint at taking even more
control away from Jackson, knowing he is building a system where
Jackson cannot win.\26\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\23\ Letter from Michael S. Regan United States Environmental
Protection Agency to Governors (Dec. 2, 2021) https://www.epa.gov/
system/files/documents/2021-12/Governors-bil-letter-final-508.pdf.
\24\ State of Miss. Loc. Gov'ts & Rural Water Sys. Improvements
Board, Drinking Water Systems Improvements Revolving Loan Fund, Title
33, Part 13 (FY 2022), https://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/resources/
17153.pdf; Bracey Harris & Daniella Silva, Jackson's water system may
need billions in repairs. Federal infrastructure funds aren't a quick
fix, NBC News (Sept. 2, 2022 4:55 PM) https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-
news/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis-infrastructure-funding-rcna45444.
\25\ Memorandum from EPA on Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: State
Revolving Funds Implementation Memorandum (March 2022), https://
www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-03/bil-srf-memo-fact-sheet-
final.pdf.
\26\ Governor Reeves Announces Jackson Boil Water Notice Ending,
https://m.facebook.com/tatereeves/videos/2899272590376134/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The city loan forgiveness maximum and limitations on Jackson
funding within the State revolving fund are criteria that Mississippi
decided to implement on its own. And to make matters worse, the State
submitted this plan during the midst of a water crisis in Jackson.
Further, to receive American Rescue Plan funding, each city has to
obtain approval from a State department of environmental quality.
However, the State passed a law to require only Jackson to obtain a
second set of approvals from the Department of Finance and
Administration. Rosewood, Allensworth, and other Black cities faced
blatant burning and manipulation of resources. Now Jackson is a prime
example of depriving Black communities of resources in 2022, this time
through direct actions of the State.
b. Black people continue to bear the brunt of lack of disaster
preparedness
Unfortunately, the situation in Jackson is not the first time we
have seen Black cities struggle due to lack of support and
infrastructure. In Flint, Michigan, the NAACP filed suit because of the
gross negligence of officials that failed to detect a water problem.
Then when the water crisis was known to harm Black people, the public
was told to continue drinking the water, despite knowing it was
contaminated.\27\ In Baltimore, another predominately Black city,
E.coli was found in the water as recently as a few weeks ago.\28\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\27\ Natasha Noman, People of Flint Want You to See These Images of
the Water They Were Told Was Safe to Drink, Mic https://www.mic.com/
articles/132732/people-of-flint-want-you-to-see-these-images-of-the-
water-they-were-told-was-safe-to-drink.
\28\ David Collins, `Abysmal, disapponting': DPW's handling of E.
coli water contamination information criticized, WBALTV 11 (Sept. 15,
2022 6:09 PM), https://www.wbaltv.com/article/baltimore-city-council-e-
coli-water-contamination-first-hearing/41232055#.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In my time in Jackson and in talking with individuals who live in
predominately Black communities in other parts of the country, one
thing is common--lack of preparation before disaster hits communities.
And, because the issues are systemic, there is a long history of
incrementally poor decisions that leave Black cities debilitated.
Residents in Jackson, for example, have continuously said that the
State has deprioritized them when it comes to ensuring they can
withstand disasters. So it is hard to feel that progress is made when
the response from a State Governor in 2022 mirrors the response of the
Governor of Florida in Rosewood nearly a century ago.
Despite the promises of the National Environmental Protection Act,
the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, and Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act, racial discrimination impacts Black communities.\29\
The need for the NAACP and other civil rights and environmental and
climate justice organizations engaging with communities has only
increased. As part of our Environmental and Climate Justice work, the
NAACP has built advocacy campaigns, offered technical assistance, and
led legal efforts to ensure our communities have representation and
tools when disasters happened.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\29\ Albert Huang, Environmental justice and Title VI of the Civil
Rights Act: A critical crossroads, American Bar Association (Mar. 1,
2012), https://www.americanbar.org/groups/environment_energy_resources/
publications/trends/2011_12/march_april/environmental_jus-
tice_title_vi_civil_rights_act/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indeed, Black people have continued to persevere despite seemingly
insurmountable barriers. In addition to Jackson residents who live with
regular boil water alerts and bottled water within homes, other Black
communities across the country are disregarded in similar ways. In
2021, in Lowndes County, Alabama, the Department of Justice
investigated whether the Alabama Department of Health and Lowndes
County Health Department operated their wastewater disposal program in
a way that discriminated against Black people.\30\ Similarly, the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development launched an investigation
in Chicago this year in response to the placement of a toxic waste
incinerator in a predominately Black and Latino neighborhood.\31\ These
investigations demonstrate that the concerns raised in the Toxic Waste
and Race reports regarding environmental hazard placements in Black
communities persist to this day.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\30\ Press Release, Dep't of Just., Justice Department Announces
Environmental Justice Investigation into Alabama Department of Public
Health and Lowndes County Health Department (Nov. 9, 2021), https://
www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-environmental-
justice-investigation-alabama-department-public.
\31\ Brett Chase, Feds investigating city after civil rights
complaint filed by environmental groups, Chi. Sun Times, (October 20,
2020, 3:53 PM), https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2020/10/20/
21524989/general-iron-chicago-civil-rights-complaint-environmental-
racism-hud-federal-fair-housing.; Brett Chase, HUD accuses city of
Chicago of environmental racism by moving polluters to Black, Latino
neighborhoods, Chi. Sun Times (July 19, 2022 4:28 PM), https://
chicago.suntimes.com/2022/7/19/23270084/hud-civil-rights-general-iron-
polluters-black-latino-neighborhoods-lightfoot.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
iv. call to action for congress
Congress has the ability to create change. Resiliency is about
building power within the residents to sustain themselves.
First, I encourage Congress to pass the Environmental Justice for
All Act as an important step to advance community-based solutions to
infrastructure and resiliency needs. The Environmental Justice for All
Act requires agencies to study and address whether people of color are
harmed with new structures and construction, which could prevent future
crises impacting communities of color. The law would also expand
agencies' ability to address historical racism and disinvestment in
Black and other historically excluded communities, among other
solutions.
Next, this committee has a unique role in oversight. I encourage
this committee to exercise its authority to assess the effectiveness of
State oversight in historically disadvantaged communities when there is
an immediate need in to obtain resources for disaster preparedness or
response.
Third, there must be better information gathering to allow for
accountability. Some environmental justice data sets contain only high-
level data regarding pollution in communities of color. The data
contains incomplete information regarding water pollution and safe
drinking water. These data sets could be improved by offering more
granular and disaggregated data to allow communities to better
understand pollution impacts and populations that are affected. To be
effective, data must be disaggregated to allow for assessment of the
influence of race, age, disability, and neighborhood information.
Fourth, many of the resources that exist for disaster preparedness
come in the form of loans, but for individuals and communities already
fighting centuries of infrastructural racism, like Black communities,
these funds do not promote equity. To achieve the goal of wide-spread
community resiliency, we should diversify the way that we allocate
funds for critical infrastructure and disaster planning. This
diversification must also include more direct funding to cities and
towns, prior to a disaster.
Next, there are constraints on the private right of action to
enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.\32\ It remains a
challenge for individuals within communities impacted by discriminatory
government actions to hold their governments to account. Lowering these
barriers will only strengthen the ability of communities to ensure they
can hold culpable entities responsible.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\32\ See Alexander v. Sandoval, 532 U.S. 275 (2001); Amna Nawaz,
How Jackson, Mississippi's water crisis is a sign of larger racial
inequities, PBS News Hour (Sept. 12, 2022 6:30 PM), https://
www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-jackson-mississippis-water-crisis-is-a-
sign-of-larger-racial-inequities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additionally, there must be more information and opportunities for
technical assistance to communities that need it the most. We applaud
the EPA for recently opening grant applications for technical
assistance centers within communities. However, communities like
Jackson and other historically disadvantaged communities should be
prioritized to account for historic neglect. And we encourage agencies
who are offering technical assistance to ensure the assistance is the
right match for the community. For example, a community may be at the
implementation phase. The technical assistance needs to reflect their
needs at the moment.
Next, there must be more interagency collaboration on the Federal
level when it comes to disaster preparedness. Currently, communities
like Jackson are left trying to figure out which agency addresses parts
of their crisis. It is nearly impossible to understand the information,
which delays disaster planning efforts. Developing a single website to
convey disaster preparedness resources and immediate response platforms
would help cities to obtain the assistance they need when building
their plans. Indeed, many cities would more easily be able to outline
specific needs with this level of collaboration and coordination.
The NAACP has advocated on behalf of Jackson with the Environmental
Protection Agency. We have highlighted discriminatory conduct by the
State of Mississippi under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. We have
documented the egregious condition of Jackson's water system and we
have urged the EPA to investigate how the actions of State actors have
caused discriminatory impacts and harm. We encourage the EPA to bring
justice to the people of Jackson, but action from Congress and the
entire Federal Government is needed to avoid similar crises in other
communities.
We have made strides in the environmental and climate justice
space. However, history will continue to repeat itself if we do not
learn from our past. It is disheartening that the crisis in Jackson
resembles historic injustices in Rosewood, Florida and Allensworth,
California as well as the recent water crisis in Flint, Michigan. We
need urgent action to ensure that this Congress is remembered as the
body that helped break the cycle.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you very much.
The Chair recognizes the Ranking Member for introduction of
the next witness.
Mr. Katko. Thank you, Chairman Thompson.
I am proud to introduce John O'Connell III, senior vice
president of the National Rural Water Association, who will
soon fill the role of president effective September 27 of 2022.
That is a daunting task for sure.
Mr. O'Connell is a New York State water and wastewater
systems operation specialist who began his career in 1988 with
the Village of Weedsport, a small town in my district. He has
served as superintendent or chief operator for the village of
Weedsport, the city of Cortland, and the town of Throop since
that time. In his career Mr. O'Connell has overseen many
improvement projects on both water and wastewater systems and
has been instrumental in ensuring the operational and financial
success of the upgrades.
John also joined the board of directors of the Newark Rural
Water Association in July 1997. He has served as secretary,
treasurer, vice president, and president of that association.
This is just a brief summary of Mr. O'Connell's many
accomplishments, but based on his vast experience his insights
will be valuable today when we talk about these issues. I thank
Mr. O'Connell for his continued services to his communities and
I am very pleased to have him testify today.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you very much.
The gentleman is recognized to summarize his statement for
5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF JOHN O'CONNELL, III, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT,
NATIONAL RURAL WATER ASSOCIATION
Mr. O'Connell. Thank you.
Good morning, Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member Katko, and
Members of the committee.
As Mr. Katko said, I am John O'Connell, vice president of
the National Rural Water Association, the largest public water
and sanitation utility organization, representing more than
31,000 water and wastewater utilities Nation-wide.
I am also an active farmer, upstate New York, and I
continue to serve as a certified water and wastewater system
operator for small rural communities on a part-time basis.
It is an honor to appear before you today to discuss
critical water infrastructure preparedness and resilience.
Before I proceed, I would like to give credit to a few of
our State associations on an issue that Chairman Thompson is
currently addressing. The Mississippi Rural Water Association
has been on the ground working to restore and maintain critical
water and wastewater service in Jackson, Mississippi.
Volunteers from other State associations include Georgia,
Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, Ohio, and Maryland. They all
came to assist in the efforts. These certified operators
provided direct assistance to restore operations, locate
service lines, install new taps necessary to disinfect the
system. These services were provided at not cost to the city.
National Rural Water Association and its 50 State Rural
Water Association affiliates are governed by 350 volunteer
directors selected from these very water systems associations
in the Nation. We have more than 750 professional workers in
the field, we have boots on the ground working 24 hours a day,
365 days a year, reaching across a nation with all 50 States,
including Tribes and U.S. territories.
As we all know, water utility preparation and resilience
are vital to America and the Nation. According to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water
Information System, there are currently 50,000 community water
supplies in the country, 91 percent of them of which serve
populations of less than 10,000, 60 percent of them which serve
populations of 500 or fewer. The current public health crises
in Jackson, Mississippi, the COVID-19 pandemic, the historic
drought conditions plaguing the Western States as we speak, all
highlight one essential fact, continuity of safe drinking water
service and wastewater treatment is essential to modern life
and the economy. This fact particularly occurs in small, rural,
Tribal, and disadvantaged communities across the country, which
we have heard.
I mentioned at the top of my remarks that I am part-time
for the simple fact that many small and rural simply cannot
afford certified operators. I have been in the wastewater and
water industry serving small communities for 34 years, and it
is imperative to understand that small communities only operate
to serve the public interest and are eager to take all feasible
and necessary actions to protect our public drinking water
supplies.
I want the committee to know that when small towns like
mine need help in operating our water utilities, understanding
new and complex Federal Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water
Act requirements, receiving the required training to maintain
our licenses, and learning about the latest preparedness and
resiliency practices, we call our State Rural Water Association
and ask for technical assistance. These professionals travel
directly to our town and focus on specific water utility
issues. For over 40 years, they have been essential to almost
every small and rural community in New York and across the
country.
However, the reality for many small and rural water and
wastewater systems is that financial and human capacity
limitations exist which impact their preparedness and
resilience. With smaller economies of scale combined with
lower-income residents, providing safe, affordable, and
sustainable service can become challenging. Just a note on
that, right now Nation-wide we are facing a mass reduction in
utility directors. I believe it is 50 percent Nation-wide of
people who are going to retire in the next 3 to 4 years, 75
percent in New York State.
Many of these small systems rely on the user rates paid by
their customers to entire operation including debt service
loans, paying staff, equipment, disinfection products, and
energy costs. In addition, as inflation has hit all Americans,
small and rural utilities are not immune. Disinfection
chemicals to preserve public health, the increase in cost in
just chemicals alone are 300 percent, forcing some rural
utilities to pass on the costs to their lower-income customers
that are already struggling financially.
As the committee considers options to consider this
critical infrastructure and water sector, the National Rural
Water Association suggests preparedness and resilience
assistance--establish competitive grant programs with the DHS
to include activities to assist small and rural communities
with preparedness and resilience assistance. Respond to our
rural water associations, natural disasters, and extreme
weather incidents are increasing as we just heard today.
As of now, these efforts are limited to recovery and
restoration activities. Assistance should be expanded to
include preparedness and resiliency, potentially include the
loss of services.
Priority could be targeted to vulnerable communities and
activities could include but not be limited to conducting
assessments of critical infrastructure with suggestions of
modifications necessary to harden utilities performing
resiliency and mitigation planning and to include direct
application assistance to access available State and Federal
funding.
Disaster recovery planning: Disaster recovery planning
could include training, establishing emergency response plans,
communication protocols, hazard recognition, and enhancing
staff evaluation skills. National Rural Water recommends DHS
fund direct emergency technical assistance to restore services
including pumps, motors, evaluation and repair, water
disinfection, flushing, leak detection, line repair, water main
and valve location, emergency power generation, bypass pumping,
water treatment, and maintenance safety measures during
difficult working conditions. Application assistance should
also provide to access State and Federal funding, including
FEMA and insurance recovery claims.
Chairman Thompson. Will the gentleman wrap up his statement
please?
Mr. O'Connell. I will. Let me switch my page.
Again, we are eager to partner with DHS in assessing the
needs of every small water utility. Together, we provide the
expertise to ensure all necessary protective actions are
conducted in a timely manner, resulting in a more resilient,
prepared, and secure water sector.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. O'Connell follows:]
Prepared Statement of John O'Connell, III
September 21, 2022
Good morning, Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member Katko, and Members
of the committee. I am John O'Connell, the senior vice president of the
National Rural Water Association (NRWA), the largest public drinking
water and sanitation utility organization representing more than 31,000
water and wastewater utilities Nation-wide. I am also an active farmer
in up-State New York, and I continue to serve as a certified Water and
Wastewater Systems operator for a small rural community on a part-time
basis.
It is an honor to appear before you today to discuss Critical Water
Infrastructure Preparedness and Resilience. I must first thank the
committee for providing this important opportunity to highlight water
and wastewater utilities, one of the Nation's 16 critical
infrastructure sectors. These lifeline community services are often
overlooked.
Before I proceed, if you will indulge me, I would like to give
credit to a few of our State associations on an issue that Chairman
Thompson is currently addressing. The Mississippi Rural Water
Association has been on the ground working to restore and maintain
critical water and wastewater service in Jackson, Mississippi.
Volunteers from our State associations in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama
all came to assist in this effort. These certified operators provided
direct assistance to restore operations, locate service lines, and
install new taps necessary to disinfect the system. These services were
provided at no cost to the city.
The National Rural Water Association and our 50 State Rural Water
Association affiliates are governed by over 350 volunteer directors
elected from these very water systems across the Nation. We have a
cadre of more than 750 water professionals working in the field. We
have boots on the ground, working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,
reaching across the Nation in all 50 States including Tribes and U.S.
territories.
As we all know, water utility preparedness and resiliency are vital
to rural America and the Nation. According to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water Information System, there are
currently 50,000 community water supplies in the country, 91 percent of
which serve populations of less than 10,000 and 60 percent of which
serve populations of 500 or fewer. The current public health crises in
Jackson, MS, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the historic drought conditions
plaguing the western States as we speak, all highlight one essential
fact: Continuity of safe drinking water service and wastewater
treatment is essential to modern life and the economy. This fact is
particularly acute in small, rural, Tribal, and disadvantaged
communities across the country.
The COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, demonstrated the vital nature
of reliable drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. Over the past
2\1/2\ years, Americans have learned to live and work in these trying
times, and despite the extraordinary risks, the over 31,000 utility
members of the National Rural Water Association worked every second of
every day to provide uninterrupted water services as scientists advised
hand washing to be a fundamental, frequent action to ``Stop the
spread.''
Although small and rural communities faced unprecedented challenges
like reduced revenues, personnel shortages, shutoff moratoriums,
customer job loss, increased costs for personal protective equipment,
and reductions in general economic activity, all types of water and
wastewater utility system operators, circuit riders, specialists,
technicians, and locally-elected officials heeded their collective
``call to action'' and accepted the critical responsibility of
providing the public with drinking water and wastewater treatment.
It is important to note that the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) designated our water and wastewater utilities as
critical infrastructure and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
and U.S. Department of Agriculture have designated our water and
wastewater specialists, employed within every State rural water
association, as ``essential personnel'' to maintain daily,
uninterrupted services of running water and wastewater treatment.
Due to the qualifications, training, licenses, expertise and
relentless dedication of rural water operators, America's economy has
been able to stay resilient in the face of this scourge and rural
Americans continue to depend on their clean, affordable water and
wastewater service every day. It is fitting that these unsung heroes
receive the recognition they have earned and deserve.
I mentioned at the top of my remarks that I am part-time for the
simple fact that many small and rural systems simply cannot afford
full-time certified operators. I have been in the water and wastewater
industry serving small communities for 34 years, and its imperative to
understand that small communities only operate to serve the public's
interests and are eager to take all feasible and necessary actions to
protect our public drinking water supplies.
I want the committee to know that when small towns like mine need
help in operating our water utilities, understanding new and complex
Federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
requirements, receiving the required training to maintain our licenses,
and learning about the latest preparedness and resiliency practices, we
call our State rural water association and ask for technical
assistance. These professionals travel directly to our town and focus
on our specific water utility issue. For over 40 years, they have been
essential to almost every small and rural community in New York and
across the country.
However, the reality for many small and rural water and wastewaters
systems is that financial and human capacity limitations exist which
impact their preparedness and resiliency. With smaller economies of
scale combined with lower-income residents, providing safe, affordable,
and sustainable service can become challenging. Many of these small
systems rely solely on the user rates paid by their customers for the
entire operation including debt servicing loans, paying staff,
equipment, disinfection products, and energy costs. In addition, as
inflation has hit all Americans, small and rural utilities are not
immune. Disinfection chemicals to preserve public health have increased
by approximately 300 percent, forcing some rural utilities to pass on
the costs to their lower-income vulnerable customers that are already
struggling financially.
As this committee considers options to address the critical
infrastructure of the water sector, the National Rural Water
Association suggests:
1. Preparedness and Resilience Assistance
Establishing a competitive grant program within DHS to include
activities to assist small and rural communities with preparedness and
resilience assistance. Responses by our State rural water associations
to natural disasters and extreme weather incidents are increasing. As
of now, these efforts are limited to recovery and restoration
activities. Assistance should be expanded to include preparedness and
resiliency, potentially reducing the loss of services.
Priority could be targeted to vulnerable communities and activities
could include but not be limited to conducting assessments of critical
infrastructure with suggestions for modifications necessary to harden
the utility and performing resiliency and mitigation planning to
include direct application assistance to access available State and
Federal funding.
2. Disaster Recovery Planning
Disaster recovery planning should include training, establishing
emergency response plans, communication protocols, hazard recognition
and enhancing staff evaluation skills.
NRWA recommends DHS fund direct emergency technical assistance to
restore services including pump and motor evaluation and repair, water
disinfection and flushing, leak detection and line repair, water main
and valve location, emergency power generation, bypass pumping, water
treatment, and maintaining safety measures during difficult working
conditions. Application assistance should also be provided to access
State and Federal funding including FEMA and insurance recovery claims.
3. Cybersecurity
The two recent water cyber attacks in Florida and Kansas indicate
that small communities can be a target of cyber criminals. For small
and rural communities to increase their preparedness and resiliency,
NRWA has advocated to implement a National collaborative cybersecurity
water supply protection initiative through DHS, which would result in
communities focusing on enhancing security based on local risks.
Only local experts knowledgeable of the individual systems can
identify the most vulnerable elements in the community and detect
immediate threats. This initiative could provide funding to rapidly
assess the efficacy of all small water utilities in protecting their
cyberinfrastructure, develop reasonable protocols to enhance
protection, provide assistance to any inadequate cyber protection plan,
and document the state of the cyber protection in all small water
supplies.
Again, we are eager to partner with DHS in assessing the needs of
every small water utility. Together, we can provide the expertise to
ensure all necessary protective actions are conducted in a timely
manner--resulting in a more resilient, prepared, and secure water
sector.
Thank you for the opportunity to participate today and I stand
ready to take any questions that you may have at this time.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you. We will make sure that your
entire statement is included in the record.
I thank the witnesses for their testimony.
The Chair reminds each Member that he or she will have 5
minutes to question the witnesses.
I now recognize myself for questions.
It is imperative in this country that the Federal, State,
and local governments to pursue and implement policies that
strengthen the resilience of our Nation's infrastructure and
lower our collective vulnerability to climate impacts. Each one
of you have kind-of talked about that in your presentation.
This acknowledgment should be regardless of race, ethnicity,
economic status, urban or rural.
So for our witnesses, given that this is National
Preparedness Month, what are some areas that FEMA and the
broader government can do to ensure that we implement policies
that ensure that all communities have the resources they need
to strengthen their preparedness and resiliency?
We will start with you, Mr. Fugate.
Mr. Fugate. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Administrator Criswell has already begun to implement many
policies that are being directed by the White House to address
equity. But probably one--and, Mr. Chairman, you have been
hearing this before--when we talk about things like mitigation,
we always focused on the cost-benefit analysis, where every
dollar we invest we save future losses of anywhere from $4-9,
and that sounded a really good answer. It was easy to
communicate to the committee when you are making those
investments, well this is going to save the taxpayers money.
But it had a dark side. That was if you take it out to the
extent of for every dollar I am investing, where do I get my
greatest cost-benefit analysis? It tended to drive the
investments in the more affluent communities. The house is more
valuable, the infrastructure is greater, generally you saw more
economic activities there. Because we had focused so much on
the cost-benefit analysis as expressed in dollars not in
impacts to people, the bias was always going to direct it away
from the greatest need.
I think Administrator Criswell and her team are looking at
how do we back away from merely looking at a transactional
description of deciding where to make investments and start
looking at the functional impacts of these investments upon
people, aging infrastructure, and communities at greater risk
that generally have the least resources to successfully recover
from disaster. These are important first steps, but I think we
have to understand how we got here, what we can do differently,
and then really embrace this idea that what we invest in has to
be for the future risk, not what we have always dealt with in
the past.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you.
Mr. Gadis.
Mr. Gadis. Thank you very much.
Your question is a fantastic question and how I would
answer that is to lift the burden off of low-income households
and the local utilities that serve them. The Federal Government
must invest more in our Nation's water infrastructure.
Critically, the Federal Government must also place water
infrastructure on par, if not higher, than funding that is
provided for other infrastructure throughout the country.
Congress and the Biden administration have made great
strides toward this goal with the passage of the recent
legislation, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which
will provide the EPA with $55 million over the 5 years to
improve the Nation's water infrastructure. These actions are
imperative to our country to fight for clean water access for
all, but unfortunately, it doesn't go far enough. I think that
we have all spoke to that today as well.
While these funding programs help shift efforts in positive
directions, they do not provide nearly enough financing to
solve the growing issue that we have at hand in the front of us
today. According to American Society of Civil Engineers of the
United States, we face a water infrastructure funding gap of $1
trillion--$1 trillion is what the estimated gap is today. Much
of this investment is needed to be met not with individual
customers, but a dramatic increase in the Federal investment.
A number of the utilities throughout--I am sorry.
Chairman Thompson. We got it, we got it. Thank you very
much.
Mr. Gadis. OK. OK.
Chairman Thompson. I got two more people. I got a minute
left.
Ms. Conner.
Ms. Conner. Thank you.
One of the things that would help and what I have heard
directly from communities that have been historically
disadvantaged, is that technical assistance needs to be
meaningful for what they are facing and reflect their needs at
that moment. The technical assistance often that is given to
them is not what they actually need then. So really thinking
about what technical assistance needs to look like in those
communities.
Next there needs to be more disaggregated data. I think
that all of the Federal agencies can play a major role in
ensuring that there is disaggregated data so that communities
know what is actually happening.
Next I believe that collaboration, even though we are
focusing on FEMA, but FEMA needs to be collaborating and
coordinating with other agencies. Oftentimes there are
communities who are historically disadvantaged and they are
trying to figure out which agency they need to turn to in order
to receive help. So the more that FEMA and other Federal
agencies are working together, the easier it is for those
communities to get the assistance that they need.
Next, while it is important for all communities to be a
part of this conversation, there does need to be a
prioritization of historically disadvantaged communities
because we know that there has been centuries of disinvestment
in those communities as well.
Chairman Thompson. OK.
Mr. O'Connell.
Mr. O'Connell. Great points.
As I said, National Rural Water Association is one of the
few nonprofit organizations that does offer assistance to each
community. We have boots on the ground, so to speak. We go to
you. You don't need to come to us, we go to you. The complexity
of FEMA and making out applications and everything is where I
think the problem is. A lot of help that is desired where the
utilities have really not people on staff, especially in rural
areas, that can get through the paperwork part of it. We are
trying to improve that. We need more funding to get more people
on the ground to go into these disaster areas--we are doing it
now, but with limited resources--to help them go through the
process of expediting the problems and to get them answered
quickly and get these processes in line so that they can get
funding.
Honestly, I think that is the biggest thing we need, is
communication, help with rural communities to administrate how
they get through the process. That becomes technical assistance
with people on the ground.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you very much.
The Chair yields to the Ranking Member for questions.
Mr. Katko. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank all of you for
your testimony. It is something that has been very frustrating
to me for many, many years, but I have got to say, Ms. Conner,
what you talk about with respect to Jackson and what I have
learned from the Chairman, it is an utter outrage. How does a
city that size not get the funding that is sent to the States
on a routine basis to help them shore up their systems, No. 1?
No. 2, how do those leaders let that happen? How does that
happen, right?
So, Mr. Chairman, in my opinion, we should use what
precious time we have left this term to bring some of those
people up here so we can ask them themselves, how do you let
this happen? Maybe we can learn the details of possible racism
involved, obvious incompetence and malfeasance, and make sure
that we fashion things going forward that are worthwhile.
These people shouldn't be let off the hook. They have let
the people of Jackson down, the people in Mississippi down,
just like they did in Flint. After Flint, how do we let another
Flint happen? That is outrageous.
So I would love to talk to you more about it, but I have
got other things to talk about. But I wanted to make sure I
acknowledge you.
Mr. Gadis, real quickly, if I may, you kind-of touched on
it a little bit, the infrastructure bill we passed, quite proud
of. Expended a lot of political capital on that one, but it was
worth it. But I am wondering how much it has helped the water
systems or how much it is going to help the water systems going
forward from a security standpoint and from an infrastructure
standpoint.
If you could just tell me briefly, what you think in that
regard.
Mr. Gadis. Well, I think it is a step in the right
direction. It is without a doubt not a myth. There is more
money needed. But also what is needed is to make sure that the
money is going to the right communities. It shouldn't just be
spread out and go to communities that have a young system. You
know, here in the District of Columbia more than 80 percent of
our water system, or the pipes, are near their age of needing
to be replaced. So you have to make sure the money is going to
the right place. It is a step in the right direction, but it
does have shortfalls without a doubt.
Mr. Katko. All right. Thank you very much.
Mr. O'Connell, now to juxtapose those big cities, I know
very well from my district and many rural districts how much
they struggle. So in your testimony you outlined the financial
and human capacity issues that some rural communities face. You
also mentioned that some of these utilities were forced to pass
on additional costs to rate payers who can't afford them. You
have run a similar system. If a small utility wanted to enhance
the resiliency to protect their customers from weather-related
incidents, how would they absorb this cost without devastating
lower-income communities? How do you do it?
Mr. O'Connell. We cut back. As I noted, I am a part-time
employee there and we simply have to cut back. We have to use
DPW workers to help us and--to even come close to that. I mean
the chemical cost alone has got to be passed on to the
consumer. There is no other way to dodge that bullet.
As far as the labor force goes, we even use some sheriff
department help on doing some hydrant maintenance and stuff of
that nature. We try to get some summer help part-time. We are
doing everything we can to alleviate the cost of increasing our
cost to our customers. We do everything we can.
As far as the infrastructure goes, the biggest thing--and I
see what is happening in the--the money is great, the backlog
right now is deliverables on supplies and also because of the
American Act, we can't--these communities can't get materials.
So that has been an obstacle.
But to answer your question, yes, Mr. Katko.
Mr. Katko. Thank you very much.
Mr. Fugate, I want to touch base with you on something
different, something that is very concerning to me. That is the
cyber vulnerabilities. We have vulnerabilities in cyber Nation-
wide and I think it is the biggest threat to our country right
now. Five years ago I would have said ISIS-inspired acts of
violence, now I think one of the greatest threats to the
homeland is cyber. Certainly it is in the water systems.
Could you summarize for us briefly some of your concerns
with respect to cyber and what we can do about it?
Mr. Fugate. Well, I think, you know, the first thing is--
and I think, you know, reasonably with the invasion of Ukraine,
we are no longer dealing with cyber hackers, we are dealing
with nation sponsorship. This is pure adversaries. They are no
longer looking merely at causing chaos, they are actually
looking at how they could disrupt National security, our
ability to mobilize, our economies, and our confidence in
Government.
I serve on a board of a major utility and across all of
these infrastructures, cyber threats are at the foremost and it
is far greater than ransomware.
So, again, I think the work that CISA does at DHS, the
information that is going out, this is an active threat. You
know, in my world I look at two things that have changed
dramatically in my career--cyber and climate. Neither were
things we were planning for when I started my career and now
they are at the pinnacle of the risk to our Nation.
Mr. Katko. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman yields back.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey for 5
minutes, Mr. Payne.
Mr. Payne. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Gadis, we are seeing a wave of cyber attacks cripple
major parts of our Nation's critical infrastructure, pipelines,
chemical plants, manufacturers, and meat packers. Last year a
hacker gained access to a water treatment plant in Oldsmar,
Florida and was able to change the chemical settings in a way
that it if undetected would have poisoned the local water
supply. While the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi was not
caused by a hacker, it demonstrates the damage that water
system failures or disruptions can cause.
Mr. Gadis, are incidents like the one in Oldsmar, Florida
or the more recent ransomware attack that crippled the South
Staffordshire Water Company in the United Kingdom, driving
stronger cybersecurity practices within the water sector?
Mr. Gadis. I am sorry, I didn't hear the last part of your
question. I apologize. The very last part.
Mr. Payne. That is OK. So would you consider those to be
driving stronger cybersecurity practices within the water
sector because of those incidents?
Mr. Gadis. Well, it is a great point that you make. The
cybersecurity is very, very important I think in the water
sector. It is very much similar to the infrastructure. The
costs are outrageous for utilities to continue down the path
that we are continuing down today to keep the utilities safe.
We at D.C. Water do everything that we can. I think we are
in a better position than a number of other utilities
throughout the country in which we--on a day-to-day basis we
are looking at cyber, we are looking at the attacks. We have a
number of threats that come through our system on a day-to-day
basis. But at the end of the day, the utilities are very prone
to cyber attacks and it is something that we have to continue
to build up. We have to continue to work I think with the
Federal Government, with EPA, and others to find funding for
cyber as well.
Mr. Payne. Thank you.
Mr. Gadis. Thank you.
Mr. Payne. CISA offers a variety of programs and services
to help critical infrastructure owners and operators in all
sectors, including water, help to shore up your cybersecurity
defenses.
Mr. Gadis, has D.C. Water taken advantage of any of the
CISA free cybersecurity services?
Mr. Gadis. Yes.
Mr. Payne. Or partner with CISA through programs like
CyberSentry or Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative?
Mr. Gadis. Yes, we do. We actually sit on a number of those
different organizations, on the boards or on the committees and
working with them. We take full advantage of all of the
cybersecurity expertise that we can get from these
organizations, including the EPA and many others regarding
cyber.
So the answer is yes to your question.
Mr. Payne. Thank you, sir.
To my colleagues, if your districts haven't taken advantage
of the CISA programs, I would suggest that you take a look at
them.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman yields back.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Louisiana for 5
minutes, Mr. Higgins.
Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Appreciate you having
this hearing today.
It has been startling observing what has been happening
with the water quality in the capital of one of our sovereign
States, my neighboring State, Mississippi. My wife is from
Mississippi. We are familiar with Jackson. My observation
during the course of my life is obviously south Louisiana, we
have to deal with a lot of water. We have hurricanes and we
have--you know, we have a lot of coastal land, the Gulf of
Mexico, we have heavy rains, dealing with flood issues and
preparations for flood mitigation and the expenditures required
and the focus and the discipline of our local elected officials
to prepare the next generation for major water events and to
provide quality water for our citizenry. This is largely the
role of local elected officials and my observations have been
that the quality and effectiveness of water and drainage in our
municipalities directly reflect the quality and effectiveness
of the leadership in those municipalities.
I think Mr. Gadis could perhaps address this question. Why
would one municipality that shares a common geographical region
with other cities of similar size and funding revenue, why
would one municipality be effective at dealing with water and
another not?
Mr. Gadis. Well, each utility has its own differences,
trust me. Even the proximity of some of those utilities, they
can get sometimes totally different types of rainfall. So, for
example, you know, you talk about a 15-year rainfall, a 15-
year-flood type rainfall, we have had that happen in the
District of Columbia on three or four different occasions in
the past 2 years.
Mr. Higgins. Yes, sir.
Mr. Gadis. So as a result of that, I think each utility has
also spent their money in different places as well. I think
that is what it boils down to.
Mr. Higgins. Don't you think water quality is sort-of a
cornerstone of--to be able to recover from anything? It would
seem that we have an example in south Louisiana, I had personal
experience with my father after he retired, did some work as a
consultant engineer for Jefferson Parish in the 1970's. In
Louisiana we have parishes, the rest of the country has
counties--same thing. Jefferson Parish was installing and
upgrading very advanced drainage and pumping systems. That was
based upon, I believe, a 1976 Corps of Engineers study that
indicated that major water events could end in--like a category
5 hurricane or if you had a rupture of the levee or something
could cause major flooding in Jefferson Parish and/or Orleans
Parish. See, neighboring parishes in Louisiana--during the
course of the 1970's and the 1980's, Jefferson Parish was very
effectively run and they installed state-of-the-art pumps and
drainage and Orleans Parish was very poorly run and they
didn't. So Katrina came and neighboring parishes had vastly
different experiences.
To me you are the expert on this particular topic.
I care about my colleague's territory in Mississippi and I
stand by as your neighbor, Mr. Chairman, to help in any way
that we can to address this at the Federal level, including
perhaps sharing best practices from some of your colleague
citizens and municipalities in Louisiana.
But, Mr. Gadis, what would you suggest would be the first
course of action? I give you my remaining 30 seconds, sir. What
should the municipality of Jackson do to immediately respond to
this?
Mr. Gadis. Well, I think it is hard to talk about Jackson
itself. I think that as it unfolds we will figure out and find
out more information.
In my experience and my history in this industry, that is
what happens. I think we should not be quick to take a look at
this and say here is what I will blame or whatever. That is
going to take time. This is something I think that has happened
over a number of years and also different leadership.
Mr. Higgins. Yes, sir.
Mr. Gadis. You pointed to that earlier about leadership.
That is a key factor in I think operating and managing a
utility as well.
Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Gadis.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you. The gentleman's time has
expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri, Mr.
Cleaver, for 5 minutes.
Unmute yourself, Mr. Cleaver.
Mr. Cleaver. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I apologize. I was
off the grid for a minute. Thank you very much.
I want to zero in if I could please on the tragedy down in
Jackson, Mississippi, because I have come to the conclusion--I
read somewhere that the love of money and keeping it from
addressing the needs of poor people is the root of all evil.
So, you know, you have a lot of evil going on around the world.
I would like for our panelists to address, particularly
FEMA, in terms of preparedness, are there systems around the
country right now that are in as much difficulty and as much
degradation as we have seen in Jackson, Mississippi?
Mr. Fugate. Yes, sir. It is just a matter of time until
they fail or we have another disaster.
A lot of the things we go to are a result of what I call
the resiliency divide, where we haven't had the investments
made, we are not maintaining the systems, there is not the
economics to do that, you know, from where I am at in north
Florida. Where I grew up, you know, it is hard for communities
like Worthington Springs to compete with the city of Miami when
they are going for grants. It is one of the things that FEMA is
trying to make sure, is making sure that we level that playing
field, so it isn't just people with the professional staff
full-time resources and go get the money. Because if we are not
making our investments across the Nation based upon impacts and
needs, we will continue to grow our resiliency divide between
the haves and the have-nots. Where I am at in North Florida,
big communities will probably get the grants. Vulnerable
communities that sit on rivers and streams that will impact
their systems, as we saw back in 1998 when we had flooding
across the State, the ones that got wiped out were the small
jurisdictions who didn't have the resources to build higher and
they had total failure, which then cost us more to the
taxpayers, because we were dealing both with the response and
the rebuilding.
Mr. Cleaver. I am also concerned about this $8 million
threshold, which small communities have to meet in order to get
a response from the Federal Government and some kind of
declaration of emergency from FEMA. So it fits in with what you
were just saying in terms of the smaller communities. I have
got to--and I don't like to--it hurts me to--painful for me to
say, but also communities that are of color. Is there a need
for us to maybe spend time trying to make corrections in our
policies so that smaller communities and communities of color
are not ignored?
The reason I say that is, you know, the smaller communities
are not entitlement cities in terms of the way the Federal
employment comes in. I mean, for example, I live in Kansas
City, Missouri, it is the largest city in our State. So you
will have the resources. But let us say a little smaller town,
like Orrick, which probably nobody has heard of, which was hit
by a tornado, ended up without receiving much attention and no
money from the Federal Government at all. But, you know,
obviously we cannot leave this to the whims of Congress because
we are not acting. So maybe we need to do something with the
way FEMA is constructed so that we can proactively deal with
some of these, especially now that we have this infrastructure
money. I am with the Ranking Member--I don't know how anybody
could vote against it.
But, anyway, I don't want to over-talk and get a response
from you.
Mr. Fugate. Well, representative, I would refer this back
to FEMA. I think it may be useful for the Chairman to ask FEMA
to come in and brief on how Administrator Criswell is
addressing this and try to make sure particularly in the
building resilience and infrastructure communities that FEMA is
providing--you know, Congress is providing billions for pre-
disaster mitigation. The steps we are taking to address these
very issues, to make sure that the money doesn't go to the ones
that always get it, that we are looking at rural America, we
are looking at Tribal governments, we are looking at impacts to
people, and how they are doing that.
Mr. Cleaver. Thank you.
I yield back, Mr. Chairman. I ran out of time.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you very much.
We have had a talk with the FEMA administrator. She is, as
you say, well aware of it--actually in the middle of trying to
come up with new policies to address just what Representative
Cleaver is talking about, and a lot of other communities that
are impacted.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Mississippi, Mr.
Guest, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Guest. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To all our witnesses,
thank you for being here on this very important topic.
The city of Jackson is a city that I along with Chairman
Thompson both represent. We have both been in meetings with
elected officials, State elected officials, city elected
officials. Our offices have been in contact with Federal and
State agencies and are currently working to try to find
solutions to this problem. I know many of you referenced our
capital city in your reports that you provided prior to you
testimony here today.
Mr. Fugate, I want to ask you, I know you referenced the
city of Jackson. You talked about both flooding and preexisting
conditions that may have been a factor. Are you familiar with
the city of Jackson? Have you been briefed or received any
information specifically on the current crisis that is
currently being mitigated? Or are you just aware from media
reports that you have received?
Mr. Fugate. Media reports and some discussions with various
staff, but I have not been directly involved, nor have I been
briefed on the specifics.
Mr. Guest. What information are you aware as far as the
preexisting conditions that may have exited? I know generally
you talk on the final page of your written testimony about--and
again I don't know if this is specifically to Jackson--you talk
about aging infrastructure, poor financial health, delayed
maintenance, low staffing, lack of training. Those things that
you all list would increase the likelihood of a system failure.
Do any of those--are those applicable to the water system
failure in the city of Jackson?
Mr. Fugate. Well, based upon the reports, they were having
water quality issues before the flooding. So that--actually
that statement didn't come from Jackson, that was basically
looking at the American Waterworks Association and what are
indicators or risk they see across the Nation in water systems.
So this is much more wide-spread than just looking at what
happened in Jackson.
Mr. Guest. Let me specifically--and again, with me
representing a portion of the capital city, I want to continue
to talk specifically about the city of Jackson--this was an
article published by the Mississippi Today, one of our local
media outlets on August 31. It says Feds flag dire Jackson
water problems a month before the system failure. Our water
system in the city of Jackson has been under an EPA consent
degree since 2013. There was a follow-up decree that was later
entered into I believe in 2021 if I am not mistaken between the
city of Jackson and EPA. Then there was a report that EPA
published in July of this year, just a few ultimately weeks
before the failure of the Jackson water system. These were some
of the things that were cited in that EPA report: Poor
administration, lack of staff, it said operator turnover is
high with some reporting working 75 hours a week without
overtime pay. The report talks about finances are in shambles.
It said the city was unable to provide a complete list of
customers when inspectors visited and explained that some
customers received no bills while others received large bills.
The city could not calculate its collection rate and said this
issue isn't something expected to be resolved until late 2024.
It also referred to the malfunction of water meters, which had
contributed to a 30 percent decrease in revenue, that 1,400
bills were stranded or not sent or received by customers, it
talks about customer complaints, a lack of routine monitoring
and maintenance. It said that the city failed to collect and
record continuous pressure data which could identify problems
within the system, it talks about the water in storage tanks
that weren't cycled, and then it talks about frequent line
breaks. It said a report from 2017 through 2021 said that the
average line break was 55 per 100 miles of line, far exceeding
the 15 per 100 miles a year that is considered safe.
So my question is, these things that you see here in this
report specifically as it relates to the city of Jackson, it
appears that it was definitely a contributing factor to the
crisis. But I think what you are saying is this is not unique
to the city of Jackson, that this is something that many of our
major urban cities, particularly older cities that have not had
recent growth, that they are experiencing--and this is the
reason that there needs to be both State, Federal, and local
action to address these problems Nation-wide. Is that correct?
Mr. Fugate. Yes, sir.
Mr. Guest. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe I am out of
time.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman yields back.
The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from Florida for 5
minutes, Mrs. Demings.
Mrs. Demings. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, and thank
you to all of our witnesses for being with us today and for
being here with the I think sole purpose of solving problems.
That is exactly I believe why we were elected too, not just to
point fingers. If pointing fingers helps us solve problems,
then let us do that. But we are here to solve problems.
I appreciate the remarks of the Chairman, the remarks of
the Ranking Member, who asked the question, how did we let this
happen after Flint, how do we find ourselves--ourselves--in
this situation again?
Mr. Fugate, it is great to see you as a fellow Floridian.
You said that probably there were some people when Jackson
occurred that said, oh, that is just Jackson. I believe that is
probably true, but it appears on all that I have heard this
morning is that we knew, or we should have known, that Jackson
was going to happen. But you also said when asked the question
about other jurisdictions, that it is just a matter of time.
So, you know, are we going to have a proactive approach to
dealing with this or are we going to sit back and just let it
be just a matter of time and say, oh, well, that is just
whatever city is next? We know that communities of color and
rural and small communities have been left behind and left out
of the process. So we know that. So the question today before
us today is how do we fix that, how do we make that right, and
how do we make sure that every community, regardless of their
zip code or where they are will have access to quality drinking
water? We also know that one size does not fit all.
Mr. Fugate, I will start with you. How do we develop a
framework that will properly address evolving threats? We know
that systems have failed because they weren't adequately, you
know, prepared in the first place. But we know or we should
know how do we develop the frameworks to make sure that we are
ready for future threats, more extreme weather, flooding, cyber
attacks?
Mr. Fugate. Well, we are doing a lot of it across a lot of
agencies, but when I was looking through all the reports, I
couldn't put my finger on any place that says give me a list
and triage that list of our greatest risk and priorities for
making these investments. You have EPA who does their work and
does very well and identifies these issues, you have CISA from
DHS, looks at cyber risk and the vulnerabilities
infrastructure, but one of the things that we are seeing with
NOAA and others are starting to do is mapping more of what
extreme rainfall looks like and what those vulnerabilities are.
I think, you know, the General Accounting Office has made
recommendations back to Congress that probably with EPA's lead,
but with the Corps of Engineers, with FEMA, and others that
provide a lot of this funding, can we be more targeted and a
term I learned from a mentor, move away from discovery learning
and go find out which of our systems now are most vulnerable
and look at how we prioritize that target. It may not
necessarily be, you know, a division across populations or
States that equitable, it may be there are parts of the country
that have different risk, different needs between droughts and
extreme rainfall events that our systems weren't built for.
Notwithstanding maintenance issues, funding issues, training
issues, leadership issues, it is just all accelerating. I think
a triage list was where I would start. Get all the agencies
together, come back, and say can we come up with a criteria to
measure against water systems? Don't forget, the little systems
are just as vulnerable. Maybe only a couple hundred people,
maybe only a dozen people, but if the water goes out in the
city of Lacrosse, not only do they not have drinking water,
they don't have firefighting water.
Mrs. Demings. With the limited time that I have, Mr.
O'Connell, certainly I am aware of the challenges of small
rural communities and you have talked about them, lack of
budget, lack of personnel, resources. What are your
recommendations on how smaller communities, rural communities
can prepare themselves moving forward for cyber attacks?
Mr. O'Connell. Bottom line is training and people to
provide that training in the no-cost situation.
As I said before, the situation is going to get much worse.
We are facing 50 percent reduction in utility jobs in the next
3 to 4 years Nation-wide, 75 percent in New York State alone.
So you think you have got difficult times right this minute,
give yourself 3 or 4 years and magnitude this problem 10 times
over. We need more people in the field to go to the utilities
in a no-cost situation so that we can provide these people with
the proper training and give them more preparedness of what is
to come down the road.
Mrs. Demings. Thank you. I am out of time.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady yields back.
The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from Tennessee for 5
minutes, Ms. Harshbarger.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking
Member and all of the witnesses.
I want to follow up with what Representative Demings was
talking about. Mr. O'Connell, you said you believe that the
bureaucratic hoops that small utility companies need to jump
through just to secure those Federal grants deter a lot of
these small water utilities from pursuing these funds. You
know, I live in a rural district and my office has helped
specific counties secure funding through these grant programs.
What kind of changes? You talked about different things like
the training at not cost, but what kind of changes should be
made to cut the red tape that is deterring these small
utilities from pursuing these Federal grants? What could be
done to better inform these small or rural utilities of these
opportunities, sir?
Mr. O'Connell. My opinion goes back to what I said before.
The small utilities do not have the resources. They don't have
ITT people, a lot of them are part-time, a lot of them are
retirement people that are working there part-time. The only
answer that I have right this minute is we need to have more
people that can go to these communities that can intercept
between utility and FEMA and the Federal programs to cut the
red tape, to make it easier for them, and to be more aligned
with how they can get their money to take care of the problems
before the fact, during the fact, and after the fact.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Well, if they--like you said, if they
can't hire certified operators, whether they have the capacity
to hire them, the funding, whatever, how in the world are they
going to dedicate a cybersecurity and how are those
cybersecurity personnel to confront the threats that we face
today? Is it just increased funding? Or tell me what else we
can do.
Mr. O'Connell. I don't have the full answer to that with
small communities. I can tell you that a lot of communities
around the country still don't have access to computers. Many
rural areas don't have computers, they don't have IT people.
The only thing that I can describe as a reasonable answer is to
National Rural Water Association to the State affiliations that
we all have, all 50 States have, and to provide the resources
that we need to put more people in the situation to educate
them as best we can from what the resources they have to
protect their interests.
Do I have 100 percent answer to that? I am sorry, ma'am, I
don't. If I did I would be a rich guy, but I don't. I don't
have the answer to the rural water situation. I can only offer
what we can do now and in the future to educate the personnel
that is there with the limited resources they have through the
National Rural Water organization, which is a nonprofit
organization that goes to the affiliate utilities and will help
them through any kind of emergency manner or any other manner
that we can provide the services for to make theirselves whole.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Well, sir, you said that they didn't have
to come to you, you would come to them. So how do we approach
that? What can I do for some of those water utility groups? How
do we get you to come to them?
Mr. O'Connell. Simple answer, you pick up the phone, you
call your State rural water association and we will be there
within 24 hours, if not sooner if it is an emergency. If it is
an emergency, we are on call 24/7, 365 days a year and we react
to emergency and the necessity of that and will put people
there immediately.
Mrs. Harshbarger. Well, I appreciate that and, you know, I
will be visiting some of those water utilities back in my
district in the month of October and we will make them aware
that that is always a possibility they can pick the phone up
and call you and will help them as best as we can get the
funding that is needed to take care of the people they serve. I
appreciate you.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady yields back.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Rhode Island for 5
minutes, Mr. Langevin.
Mr. Langevin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning to
our witnesses. Thank you for your testimony here today on a
very important topic.
In particular I am glad we are focusing on aspects of
securing the IT infrastructure. Mr. Gadis had quite a few
things to say that really resonated with me in his opening
statement and I appreciate that.
In 2021 a Water Sector Coordinating Council survey noted
that just over 30 percent responding water and wastewater
systems had identified all their network operational technology
assets and just under 40 percent had identified all IT network
assets.
So establishing a complete inventory of these assets is
obviously an essential first step for such entities to improve
their security because one cannot defend what one cannot see.
So, Mr. Gadis, Mr. O'Connell, what are some of the
challenges that water and wastewater utilities face in
identifying their IT and OT assets? What Federal assistance is
needed to support and accelerate efforts by water and
wastewater systems to improve visibility of their network
assets?
Mr. Gadis. To start out with, thank you very much for the
question.
But I think that first of all it takes a village. I know at
D.C. Water we have a large IT department that is protecting us
on a day-to-day basis, but also it is partnership locally,
either with your State or your city. I will tell you the
District of Columbia, we have a great partnership with Mayor
Muriel Bowser and her team, which they assist us not only on
infrastructure but also taking a look at the IT side of our
business as well. So I think that it is key that utilities take
advantage of State, Federal, and also in their city getting
those services for those utilities, but also looking to EPA and
others to help them as well.
The last thing I would say is unfunded Federal mandates are
putting a lot of pressure on utilities, not only on the cyber
side, but the infrastructure side. I think that is something we
need to begin to take a look at as a community and also without
putting the burden on the rate payers, because our rate payers
have to make a decision, do they pay their water bill, do they
pay another bill, or whatever it may be. But the Federal
mandates are pushing this very hard as well on utilities.
Mr. Langevin. OK.
Mr. O'Connell, do you have any comment there?
Mr. O'Connell. The comments he made, it always comes down
to personnel and monies--unfunded mandates as he spoke to. To
give you an example, what do I do when I need ITT help--I am
fortunate enough to have a daughter who works at Pinnacle
Investment. She has team viewer on my computer and when I get
into a jam she helps me. So I have to use resources beyond and
above what I have available at my community.
I am sure other communities use the same practice. Because
we are in rural areas, we don't have money for IT departments.
We are not a city. The best resource that I can actually tell
you that we have to fundamentally take care of the on-going
system problems is through the State Association that we have
in rural areas. There is New Jersey and New York and all the
rest of the States have. That is the only real resource we have
to combat these expenses that are contributing toward keeping
our water and wastewater systems safe.
The ultimate goal is that we all want to keep our water
safe. We all live in our communities, we drink our water, we
fish in our streams, we fish in our lakes. We are doing the
best we can with the resources we have. Fundamentally, is it
going to get worse? The answer is yes. Fundamentally, what is
the answer to that? Increase in training, as I have stressed
upon 100 times today, increase the personnel, not to be EPA--
have new regulations, but let us make them funded resources.
Mr. Langevin. Thank you. OK.
Before my time expires, so the same water and wastewater
survey found that 73 percent of responding water and wastewater
utilities had between zero and 2 full-time employees dedicated
to OT security. So both our witnesses there, I can appreciate
the resourcing challenges that many water utilities face in
hiring the personnel they need to secure the systems and assets
under their control.
My question is, are there other challenges, such as lack of
availability of cybersecurity talent with specific knowledge of
the water systems and also that also need to be addressed? If
so, how can the Federal Government and Congress specifically
help water utilities address those challenges?
Chairman Thompson. Is there a particular witness?
Mr. Langevin. Mr. Gadis. If you want to start with Mr.
Gadis.
Mr. Gadis. Thank you very much.
I am not sure that it is--I wouldn't point immediately to
the talent isn't out there. I think the talent is out there. I
think it is about building the team to do so. As I stated
earlier, sometimes what is keeping utilities from building this
team is that they don't have the funds. You know, chemicals, I
know for us at D.C. Water increased by $17 million in 1 year--
$17 million. That was 100 percent increase. When you have those
sort of things happening, it is tough to put together a team to
be able to fight cybersecurity.
Then also again, the unfunded mandates come into play.
So I think when you start looking at all the expenses, I
think that is what is keeping a number of utilities from
protecting themselves from a cyber standpoint. But it is very,
very important that they do so.
So we must change----
Mr. Langevin. Point well taken. I know my time has expired.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The gentleman's time--thank you.
The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from Florida, Ms.
Cammack, for 5 minutes.
Ms. Cammack. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, thank you to
Ranking Member Katko, and thank you to our witnesses for
appearing before the committee today. Of course I want to give
a special shout-out to my constituent, Mr. Fugate. Thank you
for being here. Of course I had to tell my team when they said
Mr. Fugate is coming. I said, no, we are from the south, it is
Fugate. Just like it is not Lafayette, it is Lafayette.
Now, this is an incredibly important topic and it has been
a little funny to hear so many names of our community heard in
this hearing today, like Lacrosse and Brooker and Worthington
Springs, because we do represent a large swath of rural
communities that really do struggle when it comes to water
infrastructure. Being a hurricane State, I think Florida knows
best some of the issues that we face when it comes to
preparedness and resiliency.
It is clear that our Nation's water system is one of the
most important infrastructure components in the country. The
decentralized nature of the system, often run by local
governments, can make it challenging when addressing
improvements and security for water infrastructure. Now, every
community has different needs and resources when it comes to
water. I think it has been said here before, the one-size-fits-
all approach does not work. I think both Republicans and
Democrats can agree on that fact. But it is also that
decentralized nature that I think also is helpful in limiting
some of these major attacks that we have seen.
So I am going to jump into my questions starting with you,
Mr. O'Connell.
My district's neighbors in Oldsmar, Florida, just barely
avoided a deadly attack last year when their drinking water was
poisoned by a bad actor. We are incredibly thankful that the
incident didn't end as devastatingly as it could have and we
continue to process lessons learned from the attack.
Now, I understand the debate centers around connecting
industrial control systems to the internet and we see that
interconnected systems offer opportunity for greater
efficiencies and modernization. But, again, as I mentioned,
there could be a greater threat when they are all connected.
So first part of this is would you say that it is common
practice to have rural water utilities connect their systems to
the internet? That is the first part.
Second part, if yes, do you think that these utilities have
the proper protocols in place to protect their systems from
cyber threats that have the potential for cascading impacts
across operational technology and informational technology
systems? If no--and I know I am making this very complicated,
but I have an end game here, I promise--if no, what could we do
help the smaller utilities in Florida, but also around the
country and across the Nation, both modernize and secure their
systems?
I know, I threw a lot at you.
Mr. O'Connell. That is OK. I don't know if I can answer it
all anyway, so.
The first part of your question, I would say no.
Ms. Cammack. OK.
Mr. O'Connell. I would say I don't now what the percentage
is of people that have remote access to HMIs and over their
cell networks. It is becoming more necessary for them to do
that as the technology moves forward and the water and
wastewater industry, I think it is going to be more common.
More rural utilities are going to have to adapt to that because
just on the functionability of the water and wastewater
equipment, which I am very savvy on--I work for a company that
provides wastewater and water equipment for all utilities in
New York State--so as we move forward with that technology that
is going to become more of a common problem with rural areas
and all areas, because we are networking through our cell phone
systems to be able to act quickly or quicker to problems that
exist in the water plants and the wastewater plants.
What is the answer to having that so it is not being hacked
into? I am not sure I can answer that question to you. I can
surmise and give you my opinion that we are going to have to
have more protection on our cell phone systems, there are going
to have to be different passwords. Things of that nature will
have to be implemented. Unfortunately for a lot of folks like
me as a farmer, it takes a lot of training for me to understand
how to do that. So that is when it becomes back to State
associations, Rural Water, to provide that kind of resource to
help them with that. But reality is with the new equipment
coming out, we are all going to have to be more savvy with that
because you are not going to have a choice.
The other problem is our product lines that are becoming
more and more available to the rural areas, we don't have
repair people like we used to. So they are going to have to
rely on internet services to do in-house repairs.
So I tried to answer you question. I hope I did. If not I
apologize.
Ms. Cammack. Well, I appreciate it.
I know my time is expiring, Mr. Chairman, but I do have a
record that I will submit--or a question for the record that I
will submit for Mr. Fugate as well.
Thank you. I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady's time has expired.
The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from California for 5
minutes, Ms. Barragan.
Ms. Barragan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding today's
hearing to improve the resilience of critical infrastructure
for underserved communities.
As the climate crisis worsens communities of color are
bearing the burden of a lack of under-investment in our
infrastructure. We see it in Puerto Rico, where Hurricane Fiona
caused an island-wide power outage, we see it in Jackson,
Mississippi where residents in the year 2022 do not have access
to clean water. This has also happened in my district. A few
years ago homes in the city of Compton had brown water coming
out of their faucets.
As agencies like FEMA make investments to improve the
resilience of critical infrastructure, Congress must advocate
for underserved communities to be front of the line.
Administrator Fugate, the event of Hurricane Maria 5 years
ago devastated Puerto Rico and left the island with no access
to clean water for months and the recovery had still been on-
going. While billions of dollars in aid were provided,
including to the utility, Luma, to improve the power grid, not
enough has been done to fix Puerto Rico's power grid and
strengthen their infrastructure.
What additional steps do you recommend Congress take to
make sure that the residents of Puerto Rico are benefiting from
the Federal fund that Congress provides for the recovery from
Hurricane Fiona and for greater resilience so that this does
not happen again?
Mr. Fugate. Representative, two things. No. 1, we have to
really be stringent in making sure that we rebuild to much
higher standards, not just put it back the way it was.
The second thing, and the Chairman knows this, I have
spoken of this before, we have got to speed up the recovery
process. Our recovery process when I was at FEMA coming in at 5
years had barely scratched the surface on Hurricane Katrina.
When I left FEMA I approved $1 billion project for water and
wastewater repairs for the city of New Orleans water and sewage
systems, 10 years after Katrina hit. We have got to speed up
the process of getting capital in quickly, spent wisely, and
implementing the improvements to these systems. The time frame
between disaster has increased to a frequency that no longer
allows the luxury of decades of recovery.
Ms. Barragan. Thank you for that.
I know after the last hurricane a Congressional delegation
led by Speaker Pelosi was there and we heard about, you know,
people who also were having a hard time with documents and
papers to FEMA. So I do hope there will be efforts to make sure
to do everything we can to assist.
I want to follow up with you, administrator, about
something I read about this morning. A roughly 50,000 roof-top
solar arrays have been installed across the island, the vast
majority of which are hooked up to a batter back-up system. The
year before Maria only 5,000 solar systems were in place and
few of them had batteries. Now, Hurricane Fiona has put these
recently installed systems to the test and reports have shown
that they have helped maintain power for buildings where it has
been installed.
Mr. Administrator, how can Congress encourage more roof-top
solar and battery systems for critical infrastructure in Puerto
Rico and throughout our country?
Mr. Fugate. I think it is a great idea. Personally I would
like to try to figure out how HUD and other agencies, as we are
doing affordable housing, we are not talking about putting
solar in to run everything. We are not talking about running
the HVAC and everything, we are talking about enough solar to
keep the refrigerator cool, keep the fan on, charge
electronics, provide the ability for medical equipment to work.
That is not an outrageous cost. The technology already exists.
I think every opportunity when we go and rebuild, every time we
provide funding to homes, we ought to be looking at the
opportunity to provide a back-up emergency power source such as
solar so that they have minimal functionability. Because I have
been to enough hurricanes, trust me, that first couple of days
without power is an inconvenience. About the time you get to
week 5, people start suffering and medical conditions get worse
and the cost to us as responders continues to increase, to the
tax payers providing services.
So things like rooftop solar, not trying to do the full 100
percent back up, providing a minimal viable amount of power
with rooftop solar and battery back up to me is like a no
brainer. We ought to be trying to figure out how across our
programs we can make it available so when the power does go
out, and we know it is going to go out in hurricanes, it
doesn't devastate our citizens while they are waiting for
restoration time. Because our systems are not built to
withstand these storms. It may be faster to build resiliency at
the household level while we are trying to build resiliency
across our grid.
Ms. Barragan. Well, thank you. I do think we need to invest
in things like clean energy micro grids for critical
infrastructure. In underserved communities, these are the kinds
of investments that we need to make for resiliency. I have a
bill called the Energy Resilient Communities Act for that.
I will make sure to also provide my other question that I
have for Mr. Gadis that I didn't get to for the record.
Thank you.
I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you. The gentlelady yields back.
The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from Iowa, Mrs. Miller-
Meeks, for 5 minutes.
Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Thank you, Chair Thompson and Ranking
Member Katko, thank you to all our witnesses. This is an
interesting discussion that we are having today, both on the
cybersecurity front--and some of the questions I had have been
asked and answered, so I won't ask for those to be expanded
upon.
But I am in southeast Iowa, which has both urban but a lot
of rural areas. I have met with my Iowa Rural Water Association
and in fact I am on a rural water association. I drink the tap
water, cook with the tap water, and feel very secure. But it is
interesting, Mr. Gadis--and it is not a question directed at
you, but I just want to underscore something that you said. Too
often this happens in Congress and in State legislature as
well. You said unfunded Federal mandates cause issues. So
whether that is issues we have heard today about work force,
having a labor force. While in Washington, DC it may not be a
problem having IT or cybersecurity, it certainly can be an
issue in other rural areas where there are IT people but they
don't want to come out to a rural area.
The cost of supplies and activities. When I have spoken
with my rural water association, my State rural water
association, you know, the regulations that they have that come
down from the Federal Government and from EPA, even if it is
the chemicals that they are measuring, what they are measuring,
the amount which are things that they feel are unnecessary
given their long history makes it more challenging for them to
do the job that they are doing and increase the requirements.
So whether it is the challenge it is to work force, the cost of
supplies, the time and travel necessary to do things that they
feel in their long experience in keeping water clean is
unnecessary. I think when we are talking about giving people
training, we also need to look at what credentialing we are
requiring, what education we are requiring, and are there other
ways to provide training for people to do these jobs,
especially in rural communities?
So, Mr. O'Connell, in the United States, 91 percent of
active drinking water systems serve communities with
populations under 10,000 people, to your point. Furthermore, 60
percent of those serve populations of 500 or fewer. So given
this fact, can you talk about how critical it is for small and
rural water utilities to have proper resources and funding?
I think also, Mr. Fugate, you mentioned that not missing
the opportunity to serve our rural systems.
Mr. O'Connell. The system that I take care of is 360 taps.
So I am kind-of familiar with what happens in small systems.
We are lucky that we have had resources to provide safe
water and infrastructure for wastewater. We don't have a
wastewater plant, we just have a--we disburse water from a
neighboring community that supplies us with water. I have been
very active with educating our boards how crucial this is to
keep up on infrastructure and putting money away for future
developments and repairs. I think it is a planning thing, I
think it is a training thing, I think it is educating the
people that you work for, our boards. Unfortunately in New York
State the boards in the small towns and communities and
villages are not required to have board training. So it is up
to the water operator, the wastewater operator to not step on
too many toes and to educate those folks that really give us
our orders and what to do and how to spend our money on what we
have to create for the future. That is basically a network of
monies to be utilized to keep our system as great as we can
possibly make it. Great is not the great word I want to use,
but it is the word that came out.
We are proactive in the little community that we have of
360 hook-ups. Are we in debt? The answer is yes. I think the
infrastructure was worth it. I think they thought it was worth
the long-term plan. The training from our rural water
association has mitigated us not to get in trouble with our EPA
or our DOH, Department of Health. If it hadn't have been for
those resources that we could utilize within our small
community, we would probably be in trouble.
Mrs. Miller-Meeks. I would agree with that. Our local and
State rural water associations have done a tremendous job.
In your testimony you stated--and I know that my time is
running out, so if you want to answer this question after the
fact and submit it written, that would be great.
But when small towns like mine need help in operating our
water utilities, understanding new and complex Federal Clean
Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act requirements, receiving
that required training to maintain our licenses and learning
about the latest preparedness and resiliency practices, we call
on our State rural water association and ask for technical
assistance. More to the point, and this also underscores what
Mr. Gadis said, would you be able to elaborate--and it is fine
if you submit this in writing--I know that our time is
limited--what are some of the complex Federal regulations water
and utilities deal with every day that you all may find are
overreaching and further complicate your ability to do the job
of keeping our water clean and safe?
If you would submit those to us afterward I would greatly
appreciate it.
Thank you.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you. We will make sure that the
answers are responded accordingly.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan, Mr.
Meijer, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Meijer. Thank you, Chairman, and to the Ranking Member
for holding this and to all of you for being here today.
I think the shared goal of this hearing is so that we get
out of the mode of reaction, right. I am just broadly
categorizing. We are talking about disasters that occur and the
impacts because of a lack of preparation, and those that occur
because of neglect. Jackson, Mississippi was a combination of
the two. In Michigan, in Flint, it was neglect, in Benton
Harbor, it was neglect. Each time the Federal Government will--
I think in Michigan, I think both occasions the State
government, but then with some Federal resources had to come in
after the fact. But while that problem is waiting to be
addressed it is the disadvantaged communities that are
suffering from that, that are having, you know, tainted
drinking water, that are having to find other means of getting
what should be an expectation in a super power in the 21st
Century, which is you turn on the tap and clean potable water
comes out.
Ms. Conner, you mentioned that that lack of transparency
around water quality and other public services, that that has
engendered a sense of mistrust and a declining belief that
government is actually there to serve the people, especially on
a municipal level. I could not agree more. I think one of our
challenges--because nothing we are talking about here on the
infrastructure side is rocket science, right. We have had these
systems for a century. There has obviously been improvements in
transportation, there has been improvements in cleanliness, but
we don't need to reinvent the wheel here. Yet I think the two
most pernicious words in infrastructure are deferred
maintenance and then what happens as a result. All too often we
are living on investments in this country that were made--you
know, when we are talking about our electrical grid, largely in
the post-World War II-era, when we are talking about our
highway system, it was also post-war, our aviation
transportation sector in sort of the 1960's, 1970's, and in
some cases the 1980's, but when it goes to our water
infrastructure, I mean that could go back a century or a
century-and-a-half. Downtown Grand Rapids, when we were
preparing a new area for a stadium they found water lines that
were wooden, that had been carrying water for upwards of 170
years--or I should say 150 years in that case.
How do we get out of that cycle and how can--to the point
on transparency, you know, not just the quality today, but the
known risk factors that will impact quality down the line. We
have done fantastic work across the country of identifying lead
drinking water lines. I think that has been strongly
beneficial. Then again, what we had in Flint was it was an
emergency program to replace because the lines had already been
degraded because of the different Ph balance of the water
coming in from the switch source rather than what is far more
cost-effective and far more sustainable on the community level,
which is doing that one whole project. You are replacing the
sewer main, you are replacing any lead, you know, connected
lines while you are also taking care of maybe laying down fiber
or some other improvements.
I guess I will set that aside, but just say what could the
Federal Government start to require or suggest or create common
standards around the quality of existing infrastructure, you
know, the forward projections of financial burdens and
financial opportunities? You know, how do we get out of that
cycle so that citizens can be empowered to demand of their
public officials that they not, you know, sacrifice the
investment today that should be made because maybe there is a
shorter-term priority, only to find themselves in a position
where they are betraying the confidence of their constituents
when that moment comes?
Ms. Conner. Thank you so much for the question.
One of the things that the Federal Government could to is
really ensure that there is a transparency in disaggregated
data. The data is not really there when you look at, for
example, the data that is available within the EPA's website is
not disaggregated as it relates to race. It basically kind-of
overarchingly says communities of color and it also doesn't go
really disaggregated into types of pollutants that exist within
communities. So that kind of information is really helpful.
Additionally, the streams of funding oftentimes go to the
States. So at the Federal level if there were more streams of
funds that actually go directly to communities, that would help
to ensure that folks could get the resources that they need
more quickly.
Oftentimes, those streams are loans. So if you are already
in a situation in a community where you don't have the money to
actually fix those problems, a loan is not really what you need
at that moment. You need actual direct investments into the
communities.
Then the technical assistance as well just needs to be
reflective of what they need.
Mr. Meijer. Thank you, Ms. Conner.
I am mindful my time is almost expired. For just Mr. Gadis,
anything you wanted to add obviously is--I mean a municipal
water system that has seemed to have done a very good job of
making those investments and planning on the financial side.
Mr. Gadis. Yes, real quick. I mean what I would add, again
it falls back to I think communication and being prepared and
really having a team that can provide the information that is
needed in order to attack and actually do the number of things
that need to be done within your system. Then prioritizing.
Then finding out what assets are vulnerable and then making
smart decisions on what assets you repair versus allowing
them--or you replace versus allowing them to go to failure.
So in the District of Columbia one of the things we talk
about is Lead Free D.C. That has really impacted and the--from
an equity standpoint that regardless of race, color, whatever
it may be, you are going to get quality water. So we are going
to measure and make sure if you have lead we get it taken out,
because no one should be drinking from lead service lines.
So I think that is one of the things I think that we have
to do throughout the country.
Mr. Meijer. Thank you, Mr. Gadis.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for indulgence.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you. The gentleman yields back.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas for 5
minutes, Mr. Pfluger.
Mr. Pfluger. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
What a great topic to be discussing and talking about the
critical infrastructure. You know, as the threat continues to
increase around the world in the cyber domain, we have to be
cognizant of how we are defending. So a lot of my questions and
the lines of questions have been asked, but I will go to Mr.
O'Connell.
You know, representing a rural district I appreciate what
you do. The entire panel of witnesses, thank you for your time
today. But my specific question is, you know, what are you
getting from CISA or the EPA by way of good actionable
intelligence that helps you bolster through your organization
and therefore the communities? Is intel flowing? Is the, you
know--are the roundtables happening? If not, what do we need to
do better?
Mr. Gadis. I mean I can only speak on behalf of the
District of Columbia and D.C. Water. We have a great
relationship with the EPA. The information is flowing, we are
interacting very well, and I will say that one of the things
that impacted not only me but the utility when I first came to
the District of Columbia Water was a boil water alert that we
had to put out. That helped us in building our relationship
with EPA because they guided us, they helped us through this.
That is very, very important I think in any community that you
live in. So EPA has been fantastic for us.
Mr. Pfluger. Yes. Well, that is good to hear. In the urban
areas, which obviously at population centers.
Mr. O'Connell, John O'Connell, with National Rural Water
Association, what is your take on information flows
specifically from CISA?
Mr. O'Connell. I can tell you that we are in involved with
roundtable discussions. Back a few years ago, I would say as
much as 10 years ago, we weren't invited to the table.
Recognizing that what we do now is where we make house calls,
we are more active in EPA's and CISA's roundtable discussions
to get our input as they recognize that 91 percent of the
communities are under 10,000. So we are being invited, we are
in discussions with all these agencies, we do interact, we do
give our testimonies and statements and our views on new EPA
rulings and all those structures that increase the cost. We
certainly don't want to increase the cost when not necessary.
We want to keep our water safe.
Might I add, you know, we are hearing all the negatives
here today, but, you know, in my experience of 34 years in this
business, we still have the safest water in the world. The
safest water.
Mr. Pfluger. Yes.
Mr. O'Connell. So I just want to stress that.
Mr. Pfluger. Well, that is a good point. Look, we don't
have these hearings to pat ourselves on the backs, but, you
know, rather to refine and sharpen, you know, the things that
need to be refined and sharpened. So it is--you know, it is
nice to also give some credit where it is due.
My advice and request to everyone is to please let us know.
The information flow is really important, whether it is in the
pipeline industry, as we saw with Colonial, and a lot of
things, positive things came of that. My district, a town that
I represent, Odessa, Texas, had some issues with water just
recently. So these are things that we are very, very keenly
interested in.
Once again, Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this
hearing.
With that, I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. Thank you very much. The gentleman
yields back.
We have had all our questions from our--the Chair
recognizes the gentlelady from Texas for 5 minutes, Ms. Jackson
Lee.
Ms. Jackson Lee. I thank the Chair, thank the Ranking
Member for holding this hearing and recognize the importance of
dealing with the question of water. We are seeing the prices
from Pakistan to hurricanes in Puerto Rico and into the
Caribbean.
But specifically I want to raise the question, Black and
Brown communities are one of the most vulnerable groups when it
comes to the effects of climate change and extreme weather
events. Often they do not have the resources necessary to brace
or evacuate during extreme weather, but more importantly, many
of the communities that they may live in do not have the
funding for infrastructure rebuild.
Ms. Conner, knowing you work, could you please describe the
challenges climate change and extreme weather events have on
vulnerable populations, including Black and Brown communities?
What can the Federal Government do to help communities confront
these challenges?
As you well know, I think one of the major evidences of
that is Flint, which I went to many times, and my colleague,
Chairman Thompson, has faced the challenges that he has worked
so extensively on in Jackson, Mississippi. There are other
less-known incidences where there have been water crises in
minority and poor communities.
Ms. Conner.
Ms. Conner. Thank you so much for the question.
What we believe within our experience with the NAACP is
because the funding streams do not actually go to the
historically disadvantaged communities, for example, in
Jackson. The funding streams typically go through Mississippi.
So if the State decides that it does not want to create a
system that will allow for Jackson to get funding that will be
able to help the water infrastructure, then Jackson is kind-of
stuck. So there needs to be more streams of funding that
actually go directly into the communities.
Then oftentimes there is technical assistance that is
available, but it doesn't actually reflect what the communities
are asking for at that moment. So, for example, if there is
technical assistance in Jackson, Mississippi and all they get
out of it at that time is a report, but they are saying, well,
we actually are ready for the implementation phases, that
technical assistance is a mismatch. So even though there is
Federal funding and there are streams for technical assistance,
it is not actually what the communities need at that moment.
I mentioned earlier the data. There is not a lot of
disaggregated data as it relates to toxins and pollution in
communities. When you look at the indexes that are readily
available, it is really hard for folks to actually figure out
what is happening within their communities.
Then also, because there has been deliberate disinvestment
for years within historically disadvantaged communities, Black
and Brown communities, there does need to be a prioritization
of their infrastructure. This isn't to say that all
infrastructures don't need to be reviewed, but when we know
that there has been a deliberate disinvestment, then there has
to be a prioritization at the Federal level in understanding an
acknowledgment of how that has created even more issues for a
place like Jackson, Mississippi. For example, Jackson's problem
has only increased. It wasn't in the billions before, but
because there continues to be deliberate disinvestment in
Jackson, Mississippi, now they are at the billions as it
relates to being able to fix the problem.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you so very much.
I think that we need to reinforce the fact that the State
of Mississippi, the Governor in particular, that gave no great
answers, was really at the center point, the focal point of not
directing funds. I am glad the bipartisan infrastructure bill
has equity provisions in there and we can insist that all
communities, those communities that happen to be everyone's
communities, that can have equity in water infrastructure
rebuild.
Let me ask--Mr. Fugate, we have worked together over the
years. Let me quickly ask you in your capacity formerly as the
FEMA director. I just came back from Pakistan where the
flooding was catastrophic. Now we see what is happening in
Puerto Rico. Help me understand very quickly in overseeing
flood disaster responses in water treatment facilities, what
specific assessment do you recommend be made to measure any
risk on current water facilities? What are some of the key
emerging risks water facilities may face? Would you add is
there any appetite for attacking our water facilities by
terrorists? Is that something that in your time of service was
on the radar of FEMA?
Thank you very much.
Mr. Fugate. I will answer the last question first. Water
treatment facilities were on our radar when they got damaged in
a disaster, not before.
The other question, as you saw in Pakistan, the way I would
approach this is--and looking at the flood threat. There is a
lot of other stuff you are talking about, cyber, maintenance,
deferred maintenance, all that, but just on flood risk we have
got to get away from looking at probabilistic of 100-year flood
event, whether or not a facility is safe. What we should be
bottling is how much water does it take before a system fails?
Are we talking about inches or feet? So that way we will know
how to triage our systems that have the greatest vulnerability
to extreme rainfall events. We know this is no longer tropical.
I mean it used to be everyone thought, well, this is a
hurricane problem. We are seeing feet of water. Now, think
about this, feet of water in communities setting record-setting
flood events for infrastructure that was built for what was
called 100-year flood. It is failing and preexisting conditions
make it worse. We are behind.
So I would say the climate has changed, we haven't. What we
built wasn't built for--we need to go back and look at how much
water does it take before it fails, not what the probabilistic
rainfall events historically have been.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady's----
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you so very much.
I yield back.
Chairman Thompson. The gentlelady's time has expired.
Let me thank the witnesses. You have been excellent in your
presentations.
Climate change is real, it is not just for conversation. We
can see it happening in our communities every day.
But I also want to associate myself with the statements
made by the Ranking Member relative to having some kind of
review of how Jackson, Mississippi was treated by both the
State and Federal agencies in the lack of funding. There is no
question about it. The data will reflect what is and what is
not. We look forward to having that review.
The other thing is I represent a part of the country with
significant rural water systems. One of the holy grails is to
talk about do we merge them because they are too small. Most
people would say, look, that is a no-brainer. You don't want to
get run out of town, don't bring it up. Bring it up, you get
run out of town. But there are some efficiencies that you just
have to have. As either through technology or merger, you will
have to have them. So I know for the rural water people who
actually came in and helped an urban center in Jackson get its
system back up to going, that response mechanism worked. But it
is a matter of infrastructure investment.
We just voted for a $1 trillion package that we put in
place. The Ranking Member was one of the few people on the
Republican side who voted for it. Last check, water is wet.
Other than that, there is no party affiliation. So I really
wish we could have gotten more support for it.
Now, the question is whether or not that $1 trillion will
be going to the communities who really need it the most or will
it just, like all other monies, just get put in the pot and the
haves get it and the have-nots don't. I hope we have a better
solution to address that because we really need it.
With respect to equity and FEMA, we are absolutely trying
to move that conversation. I have had several communities
recently flooded completely, but it didn't meet the damage
threshold, but the good people of Rosedale, Mississippi, Mount
Bayou, Mississippi, are some of the finest folk in the world
and they deserve to be addressed in as helpful a manner as
possible and not just told well the damage--you are not rich
enough to be covered. We are a better country than that. If we
were in Beverly Hills, California, one block would have
qualified for a potential damage assessment because they are
rich enough.
So those are the public policy issues we are going to have
to look at. Again, I thank our panelists for raising a lot of
those issues that we have today. Unfunded mandates are a
challenge, but some of what we do is in the good of the
country. We just have to have them. This is where Congress
takes the collective wisdom of the public before they decide on
that public policy.
I would also like to recognize Bill Simpson in the
audience, who is a--I would call him an old friend, but I don't
want to date him too much. But he is a good friend and works in
the rural water community historically.
So it is a good conversation we are having. Ms. Conner, I
know you will do your best to help the people of Jackson. There
are regulations that have to be followed. We need to make sure
that as we send monies to communities, that those monies get to
those communities and they not be penalized by any entity. So I
look forward to the next step in that area.
So let me thank the witnesses for their testimony and the
Members for their questions.
The Members of the committee may have additional questions
for the witnesses and we ask you respond expeditiously in
writing to those questions.
The Chair reminds Members that the committee's record will
remain open for 10 business days.
Without objection, the committee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 12:10 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
----------
Question From Honorable Dina Titus for W. Craig Fugate
Question. You led FEMA during several notable emergencies. From
your experience, what has changed or improved in our water
infrastructure since the 5-year anniversary of these hurricanes? Are
U.S. territories more or less prepared? How do you suggest that FEMA
operationalize its Pre-Disaster Building Resilient Infrastructure and
Communities (BRIC) Program to prioritize water infrastructure
resilience against future climate emergencies?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question From Honorable Nanette Barragan for David L. Gadis
Question. Congress has worked alongside the Biden administration to
pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, to expand access to
clean water, high-speed internet, and railroads. How will this
increased funding help communities upgrade aging infrastructure in ways
that meaningfully address preparedness and resilience?
Answer. At DC Water, our tagline, ``Water is Life'', not only
speaks to the core of our business, but is symbiotic of the life-giving
and sustaining resource that we all need for survival and resilience.
Ensuring that our county remains steadfast against incidents seen and
unforeseen remains a top priority. To this end, the truth is, no
community is resilient without safe, affordable, and accessible water.
Modernizing and replacing the country's aging infrastructure is an
increasingly important concern. This undoubtably includes the country's
aging water and wastewater infrastructure. In fact, it has been said
that ``adapting and improving infrastructure to meet changing climate,
precipitation, and water use trends, may be the Nation's most glaring
public works needs'' of this time. This is not intended as a scare
tactic by any means, but it is an urgent call to the ``all-hands-on-
deck'' approaches to immediate solutions and results-driven approaches
to ensure we are protecting and enhancing our communities most life-
sustaining commodity, water.
The Biden-Harris administration has demonstrated an increased
commitment to water infrastructure, and water utilities across the
Nation's footprint couldn't be more grateful. Utilities small and large
have already been helping communities adapt and manage the increasing
needs and challenges that come with issues such as climate change,
natural disasters, health pandemics, inflation, and all the other
socio-economic ills, and DC Water is a National leader in many
respects. What cannot be underscored, is every measure taken by the
utility to continue to provide clean, safe, affordable, and accessible
water requires costly investments. And, for all intents and purposes,
these investments often have to be borne on the backs of already-
struggling communities. This is why the attention and help from the
Federal Government is so paramount.
DC Water has nearly a $7 billion-dollar planned CIP. What is
nestled in this cost, are the projects and initiatives that will not
only continue the level of service we have been able to provide for the
past 25 years, but also fortify our communities for the next 25 and
hopefully beyond. Projects such as our Clean River Project, an on-going
effort to reduce combined sewer overflows (CSOs) to the District's
waterways, our Lead-Free DC Program, established to eliminate all lead
service lines in The District by 2030, our first-in-class Customer
Service Programs, created to ensure we are able to meet customers where
they are, regardless of where they happen to be, and our robust Cyber
Security efforts which are on-going to ensure our infrastructure and
the footprint we service is protected against attacks large and small--
each have a cost.
These concerns are not new; however, they are growing. The utility
has proven to be a responsible steward of the resources and support it
has received up until now. What we ask, is for the increased support
and partnership that will allow us to continue to do the work we do
best.
Question From Honorable Dina Titus for David L. Gadis
Question. In your testimony you note that DC Water is a member of
the Water Sector National Cyber Security Taskforce which fosters
partnerships among the EPA, CISA, and the Water Sector Coordinating
Council. As you describe it, it appears DC Water's cyber posture is
more sophisticated than other water authorities.
What lessons can be learned from the inter-agency partnerships that
DC Water has been a part of? How can we use this as a model for the
future of cybersecurity in the water sector?
Answer. As mentioned in testimony, the primary mission at DC Water
is to deliver clean, safe, and reliable drinking water to our
residents. This includes protecting the water and wastewater
infrastructure from potential threats, including physical and cyber
attacks. While we may be leading in this effort, it cannot be
underscored without coordination and inter-agency and interdisciplinary
approaches of innovation.
In fiscal year 2022 alone DC Water has been able to deploy the
following cybersecurity measures:
DC Water has implemented a ``Defense in Depth'' or layered
defense strategy using a Least Privileged access (access is
granted only to those systems/resources a user needs to perform
s/he's job) model.
The Internet Layer strategy
Web Access controls to prevents members from accessing
known malicious websites and downloading malicious files
Email Cyber Protection (Scans for malicious logic, sender
reputation, data loss)
The Network Layer strategy
Geographic Filtering (Corporate Network)--Limits by
country where DC Water data and workloads can be accessed
Firewall Protection
Intrusion Detection and Prevention
Network segmentation between
Operational and Administrative Networks
Critical system
Production and non-Production Systems
Weekly data backups
Security Event and Incident Management (SEIM)
The Host and User Layer strategy
Annual Cyber Awareness training for all users including
contractors
Multi-Factor Authentication for all administrator and
remote access and access to all high-risk assets
Unique user-ids and password for each separate network
Advance Threat and Malware protection on all host
Spam filtering
Scanning of email attachments and embedded URL rewrites
(also known as ``Click Protect'')
Geographic Filtering (Host Layer)--Extends Geographic
Filtering to the remote member's managed desktop
Data loss Protection
USB controls
Vulnerability Scanning
Data Layer strategy
Encrypted Databases
Encrypted Email
Encrypted Laptop Hard drives
Mission Critical Resilience Capability
Geographically separated Disaster Recovery site.
Understanding that cybersecurity is a journey and not a
destination, we take every measure to ensure we are working with our
teams internal to the organization, as well as subject-matter experts
external to our operations to deploy the most robust and up-to-date
programs and practices to protect our infrastructure and our people.
Questions From Honorable Dina Titus for Abre' Conner
Question 1. I was pleased that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)
included $4 billion to specifically address the on-going drought crisis
in the West. Ms. Conner, as the IRA funding gets authorized and
distributed, how can we ensure that the Federal Government is working
with our State and local partners to get this money to water
infrastructure in underserved communities that already suffer
disproportionately from the effects of climate change?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
Question 2. Are there examples you can think of where Federal
funding streams effectively reached low-income communities? Can we
learn any lessons from past funding allocations?
Answer. Response was not received at the time of publication.
[all]