[Senate Hearing 118-231]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 118-231
CELEBRATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON
ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
NOVEMBER 20, 2024
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
63-213 WASHINGTON : 2026
COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware, Chairman
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia, Ranking Member
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland KEVIN CRAMER, North Dakota
BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming
SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island MARKWAYNE MULLIN, Oklahoma
JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon PETE RICKETTS, Nebraska
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan ROGER WICKER, Mississippi
MARK KELLY, Arizona DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska
ALEX PADILLA, California LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina
JOHN FETTERMAN, Pennsylvania
Courtney Taylor, Democratic Staff Director
Adam Tomlinson, Republican Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
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Page
NOVEMBER 20, 2024
OPENING STATEMENTS
Carper, Hon. Thomas R., U.S. Senator from the State of Delaware.. 1
Capito, Hon. Shelley Moore, U.S. Senator from the State of West
Virginia....................................................... 3
WITNESSES
Fox, Hon. Radhika, Principal, North Star Strategy................ 6
Prepared statement........................................... 9
Nygren, Hon. Dr. Buu, President, Navajo Nation................... 16
Prepared statement........................................... 19
Tucker-Vogel, Cathy, Public Water Supply Section Chief, Kansas
Department of Health and Environment........................... 26
Prepared statement........................................... 29
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
Statement for the Record letters to Senator Carper and Senator
Capito from:
Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA)............ 52
American Water Works Association (AWWA)...................... 58
Written testimony from David L. Gadis, District of Columbia Water
and Sewer Authority............................................ 61
Letter to Senate Environment and Public Works Committee from
Universal Access to Clean Water for Tribal Communities (UACW).. 63
Letter to Senator Carper and Senator Capito from:
North American Lake Management Society (NALMS)............... 68
National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)................. 71
Statement for the Record letter to the U.S. Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee from Erik D. Olson, Natural
Resources Defense Council...................................... 73
Statement of The U.S. Water Alliance to the Committee of
Environment and Public Works................................... 74
Testimony of Kishia L. Powell of WSSC Water (Washington Suburban
Sanitary Commission) to U.S. Senate Committee on Environment
and Public Works............................................... 80
The National Congress of American Indians Resolutions:
#AK-21-006................................................... 86
#NO-23-013................................................... 88
#SD-95-097................................................... 91
Press Release: Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Supports $580
Million Investment to Fulfill Indian Water Rights Settlements,
February 2, 2023............................................... 93
Article: Environmental Forum: We Need an Act for the 21st
Century, Erik D. Olson......................................... 99
News Release: Environmental Protection Agency: U.S. EPA awards
over $45 million for environmental improvements on tribal lands
in America's Pacific Southwest as 28th Annual EPA Tribal
Conference ends, October 21, 2020.............................. 100
U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Safe Drinking
Water Act Hearing presentation, November 20, 2024.............. 104
CELEBRATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2024
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Environment and Public Works,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:15 a.m. in
room 406, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Thomas R. Carper
(chairman of the committee) presiding.
Present: Senators Carper, Capito, Kelly, Padilla, Ricketts.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. THOMAS R. CARPER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF DELAWARE
Senator Carper. I love baseball, as some of you know. This
is like a day-night double header. The day game is over and we
are about to turn on the lights and play the second half of the
double header.
Good morning, everyone, again. I call this hearing to
order.
We are gathered here today, as you know, to celebrate the
anniversary of the Safe Drinking Water Act, which President
Ford signed into law on December 16th, 1974. Today, we will
reflect on the impact of the Safe Drinking Water Act and on the
work that our committee has done to protect drinking water and
to protect public health.
This hearing is also an opportunity to discuss what
improvements are needed moving forward to safeguard our
Nation's drinking water.
Our work on the Safe Drinking Water Act is personal to me.
Some of you may recall, in the Bible there is a verse my
mother, as Senator Capito knows, my mother was from Beckley,
West Virginia, and she used to drag us to church every Sunday
morning, every Sunday night, every Thursday night, and on
Wednesday nights. One of the things she wanted to make sure
that we internalized was not just the Golden Rule, to treat
other people the way you want to be treated, but also to make
sure that we took a verse of scripture, Matthew 25, dealing
with the least of these, when I was hungry did you feed me,
when I was naked, did you clothe me, when I was thirsty, did
you give me something to drink. It is right there in the Bible,
Matthew 25. Something that is there, and the Golden Rule is in
every major religion in the world. Everyone, I do not care if
you are Catholic, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, it is in there for
everybody, to treat other people the way we want to be treated.
For me, Matthew 25 and the Golden Rule are things that
basically say that we want to make sure that all Americans have
access to clean, safe, and reliable water services. For
example, back in 2017, about 7 years ago, we have three
counties in Delaware, in the southernmost county, Sussex
County, a small, unincorporated community just outside of
Millsboro in the southern part of our State, reached out to me
because their drinking water had become contaminated.
I went and sat in the living room of one of the members of
this community and heard personal stories of how children could
not drink water out of their taps, families could not bathe,
and overnight, their property values plummeted. This small
community, like so many across America, was dependent on well
water. Growing up in West Virginia and Virginia later on, we
used well water. That is where we got our water.
Their challenges back in that small community near
Millsboro, their challenges led our team to start drafting the
first in a series of significant drinking water reform bills
over several Congresses, all with a goal of making sure every
American has access to safe, clean, and reliable drinking
water. The Safe Drinking Water Act is the foundational Federal
law that enables us to strive toward that goal.
To understand the significance of the Safe Drinking Water
Act, it is important for us to recall the State of our Nation's
drinking water in the early 1970's. Before the Safe Drinking
Water Act became law in 1974, there was no comprehensive
Federal regulation protecting our Nation's drinking water. In
1970, officials found that 90 percent of the drinking water
systems surveyed were contaminated. Let me just say that again:
officials found that 90 percent of surveyed drinking water
systems were contaminated.
Between 1961 and 1970, State health departments, along with
supplemental reports, documented nearly 50,000 cases of illness
caused by water-borne disease in the United States, 50,000. As
a result, Congress got to work. Congress got to work and passed
the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974. It would become the first
Federal law to provide a regulatory framework for protecting
our Nation's drinking water.
Some of us may recall the Safe Drinking Water Act led to
major Federal investments in drinking water infrastructure
during the 1970's and the 1980's, including the construction of
much of our Nation's drinking water infrastructure. These
investments also represented incredible progress for public
health.
Unfortunately, over the next few decades, Federal
investment did not keep pace within these communities. By 2017,
the American Society of Civil Engineers gave our Nation's aging
drinking water infrastructure a grade of D, D as in dog, a
grade of D. There was a water main break every 2 minutes, that
is every 2 minutes, in America. Congress recognized the need
for significant investment in water infrastructure, and in
2018, this committee, in frankly, this room, this committee led
the efforts to pass America's Water Infrastructure Act, which
reauthorized and updated the Safe Drinking Water Revolving
Funds for the first time in more than 20 years.
Then in 2021, this committee drafted the Drinking Water and
Wastewater Infrastructure Act. This bill served as the
foundational piece of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which
Senator Capito and I actually ended up managing on the Senate
floor, one of the great honors for me and I suspect for you in
the time that I have served here, which President Biden signed
into law on November 15th, 2021, another anniversary that we
just celebrated.
Speaking of celebrations, today is also the President's
birthday. How about that?
In total, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invested in an
unprecedented $55 billion to improve drinking water and
wastewater systems in communities across our Country. This
remains the single largest water infrastructure investment in
our Nation's history. Those funds go a long way toward
protecting the health and well-being of Americans from coast to
coast.
For example, the city of Tucson, Arizona, is using
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to treat contaminated
well water. The community of Hastings, Nebraska, is using
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to inventory lead service
lines that the city will then replace. The city of Newark, New
Jersey, not to be confused with Newark, Delaware, is using
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to evaluate the
reliability of their sewer systems.
While the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has enabled us to
make considerable progress, there are still challenges facing
our communities that we must address. I have long said that the
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was just a down payment on
America's infrastructure needs. Today's hearing is not only an
opportunity for us to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the
Safe Drinking Water Act, but it is also a chance to chart a
path forward to build and rebuild the 21st century water
infrastructure that we need to assure that all Americans, all
Americans, have access to clean drinking water.
We look forward to hearing from our distinguished panel of
witnesses about this important topic. Before we do, I want us
to hear from Senator Capito for any comments that she wants to
make.
Senator Capito, you are recognized. Thank you.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO,
U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA
Senator Capito. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks to the
witnesses who are here today and our members who are here for
this important meeting on the past impacts and the future of
the Safe Drinking Water Act. Many of the comments I will make
will jive with what the Chairman has put forward.
As we celebrate this 50th anniversary of the Safe Drinking
Water Act, we must first recognize the remarkable progress that
we have made in securing safe, reliable and affordable water
across the Country. When Congress passed the Safe Drinking
Water Act, contaminants in our drinking water posed serious
threats and risks to Americans and our public health.
After its enactment, the Safe Drinking Water Act drove a
significant improvement in drinking water quality by
establishing enforceable health standards, empowering States
and water systems to monitor and manage water quality, and
enabling the EPA to intervene when standards were not met.
This framework has been instrumental in ensuring safe,
reliable, and affordable drinking water for communities across
the State. Despite these landmark achievements, we still have
to recognize that more work lies ahead.
First, in 2021, Congress made an unprecedented investment,
and the Chairman talked about this, in the Nation's water
infrastructure through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment
in Jobs Act, IIJA. That investment gives us an opportunity to
modernize our drinking water structure, strengthen resilience
and address disparities in water access.
The funding particularly targets small and disadvantaged
communities aiming also to replace lead pipes, make important
infrastructure upgrades, such as upgrading our filtration
systems, and addressing emerging threats like PFAS. Despite
these significant investments and advancements, many rural and
underserved communities still struggle to access Federal
resources due to complex processes.
While the Safe Drinking Water Act framework offers the
foundation for these communities to receive support, we must
also focus on building local capacity, providing technical
assistance and addressing the pervasive challenge communities
encounter across the EPA's various grant programs. Addressing
these issues will empower communities to access needed
resources to upgrade their systems and effectively protect our
public health.
Second, we must carefully implement Safe Drinking Water Act
and IIJA programs in partnership with our State and local
governments. Cooperative federalism, which is a principle
enshrined in the Safe Drinking Water Act, recognizes that
States are best positioned to understand, prioritize, and
address the needs of their communities.
Federal programs should complement these State programs,
rather than impose one-size-fits-all mandates that complicate
funding processes and divert attention from pressing
infrastructure needs.
Third, the unprecedented level of funding provided of the
IIJA demands rigorous oversight and accountability. As stewards
of taxpayers' dollars, we must ensure that these funds are used
effectively and transparently, monitoring EPA's administration
of funds and maximizing the public health impact of each dollar
that is spent. congressional oversight is especially crucial as
we work to address emerging contaminants, such as PFAS or
forever chemicals, which require careful regulatory approaches
that balance scientific rigor with practical feasibility for
water systems nationwide. PFAS presents unique challenges
because of its persistence in the environment.
The EPA's proposal to classify certain PFAS as hazardous
substances under CERCLA, though well-intentioned, would impose
financial penalties on utilities that are tasked with cleaning
up PFAS that they did not create, and forcing unfair costs onto
our local governments and ratepayers. To address this, Congress
must exempt these entities or, they are called passive
receivers, from CERCLA liability while holding manufacturers
and primary contributors accountable. This balanced, science-
based approach will allow water systems to prioritize their
efforts on providing clean water.
As we look to the future, the legacy of the Safe Drinking
Water Act reminds us of the power of bipartisan cooperation,
sound science, and shared responsibility across Federal, State
and local governments. These values have been central to the
Act's success and will continue to guide our efforts to
strengthen and protect our Nation's drinking water systems.
As we focus on practical, evidence-based solutions, we
honor the Act's spirit and renew our commitment to safe,
reliable, and affordable drinking water for all Americans.
In closing, I want to thank all of our Federal, State and
local partners and the water professionals who work tirelessly
to keep our water systems running safely. I look forward to our
discussion today and working to advance our shared mission to
protect and enhance America's drinking water.
Thank you.
Senator Carper. Thank you, Senator Capito.
Let me now recognize Senator Kelly, who is going to
introduce our distinguished witness from the Navajo Nation.
Senator Kelly, please.
Senator Kelly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to
welcome to the committee the President of the Navajo Nation,
Dr. Buu Nygren. President Nygren was elected President of the
Navajo Nation in 2022. Upon his election, he made history as
the youngest-ever president of the Navajo Nation.
Prior to his election as President, Dr. Nygren served as
the Chief Commercial Officer of the Navajo Engineering and
Construction Authority. He is a graduate of Arizona State
University and is has a doctorate from the University of
Southern California. He and his wife, Jasmine, live in Red
Mesa, Arizona.
I have the honor of working closely with President Nygren
on many of the issues that we will be discussing today,
including exploring every opportunity to make sure that tribal
households throughout the Navajo Nation have access to clean,
reliable drinking water, but also cleaning up abandoned uranium
mines and securing water rights for the Navajo Nation and other
tribes and communities in northern Arizona.
President Nygren, thank you for agreeing to testify in
front of the committee today. I know that the committee is
going to benefit from your experience as we discuss maximizing
the investments made by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to
improve tribal water infrastructure, and also to get your
perspective on what more Congress can do to meet the needs of
tribal communities.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I will hand it back over to you.
Thank you.
Senator Carper. Thank you, Senator Kelly.
Next, I am pleased to welcome Hon. Radhika Fox, former
Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Office of Water, and current Principal of North Star
Strategy. Radhika has more than 25 years of experience in
executive management, policy, strategy, and operations. She has
advanced policies, programs, and initiatives at the
intersection of sustainability, infrastructure investment,
environmental management, water resources and environmental
justice and our economy.
We are also joined today by Cathy Tucker-Vogel, Public
Water Supply Section Chief of the Kansas Department of Health
and Environment. She has over 30 years of water sector
experience in the State of Kansas, where she oversees the
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and the Water Operator
Certification programs.
Now, I think we are ready. Radhika Fox, welcome. It is
great to see you. We welcome you and thank you again for all
your service to our Country.
STATEMENT OF HON. RADHIKA FOX, PRINCIPAL,
NORTH STAR STRATEGY
Ms. Fox. Thank you, good morning, Chairman Carper, Ranking
Member Capito, and members of the committee. It is really a
pleasure to be before you again.
Ranking Member Capito, it is always lovely to see you. It
has been a pleasure working with you for several years now on a
range of drinking water issues, PFAS, and infrastructure
investment. It is great to see you again.
Senator Carper, I want to express my gratitude for your
years of service, not only to your home State of Delaware, but
to this Nation, to the U.S. Senate, and to our environment. You
are going to be deeply, deeply missed.
Senator Carper. Thank you very much. You can have five or
ten more minutes.
[Laughter.]
Ms. Fox. Just 50 years ago there were no national
enforceable rules governing the safety of our drinking water.
The drinking water that Americans relied on carried discarded
chemicals, pesticides, fertilizers and human waste, leading to
high rates of disease among children and adults alike.
That is why, in 1974, Congress took bold action and
established the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The Act
transformed our expectations, and it saved lives and created
jobs. First and foremost, SDWA has improved water quality at
the tap by empowering the EPA to set national drinking water
standards, saving lives and preventing diseases for countless
Americans. It has increased monitoring and compliance
requirements, helping us control emerging contaminants and stem
potential threats to our drinking water.
SDWA also established the Drinking Water State Revolving
Fund, which provides affordable financial assistance for water
infrastructure projects that protect public health. It fostered
transparency, requiring water systems to share information
about the quality of their drinking water with the communities
that they serve.
The Safe Drinking Water Act, while many Americans do not
even think about it, was truly a game changer in terms of our
ability to protect the health and well-being of the American
people. During my time at the EPA, I had the honor of working
very closely with this committee to continue to make progress
for the American people through the implementation of the Safe
Drinking Water Act.
I want to take a moment to highlight some of our collective
successes over the last couple of years as really an example of
what we can accomplish through partnership and collaboration.
Both Senator Carper and Senator Capito already spoke about
the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and deep appreciation to
this committee for their leadership in getting that in place.
Of the $50 billion that was dedicated to water infrastructure
investment, EPA has awarded about $21 billion of those funds to
States, tribes and territories, and those resources are really
working on behalf of local residents all across the Country.
Alongside the EPA infrastructure funding, we have also
developed a robust technical assistance program to do the very
thing that you just spoke about, Senator Capito, to ensure that
every community has a fair shot at receiving these funds. The
Water TA program that was stood up over the last few years is
now helping about 3,500 communities across the Country in
accessing this funding. It is places like McDowell County in
West Virginia, the Makah Tribe in Washington State, with a real
focus on building the technical, financial and managerial
capacity of these water systems.
EPA also made progress on the regulatory front with a more
protective Lead and Copper Rule, establishing the first
drinking water standards for PFAS, and other regulations.
I am certainly proud of all of our shared accomplishments,
but we have so much more to do. Our work will not be done until
every single American has drinking water that is safe,
reliable, and affordable. As we look to the future, I want to
offer five priorities for our collective work.
First, we must continue to invest in our Nation's water
infrastructure. EPA's recent Drinking Water Needs Survey found
that in the United States, we have about a $385 billion need to
invest in drinking water infrastructure over the next 20 years,
not to mention the need on the clean water side. We need more
programs like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Second, we must modernize water management by rapidly
accelerating the adoption of digital tools. There are
incredible technologies that exist right now to help improve
water quality, water efficiency, and resilience. The Federal
Government has a really important role in raising awareness,
providing technical assistance and offering funding and
incentives to help water utilities embrace these tools.
Third, we must strengthen water management through
equitable consolidation. There are over 50,000 water utilities
in this Country and many of them struggle to meet regulatory
requirements, manage costs and maintain their infrastructure.
Equitable consolidation can deliver real results for local
residents if it is done well.
Fourth, we have to adopt drinking water policy and
investments to help communities with what is increasingly
called the water whiplash, this phenomenon of shifts between
extreme weather patterns, moving from severe droughts to
intense floods and back again. There is a lot we can do on the
policy side, flexible water use regulations, encouraging
conservation practices, and expanding water recycling that can
help communities confront these challenges.
Finally, across all that we do, we must improve outcomes
for underserved and disadvantaged communities. Right now, one
in three Americans struggles to pay water bills. What good is
clean water if you can not afford to drink it? We need to
establish a permanent Federal water assistance program to help
struggling families.
In closing, the Safe Drinking Water Act was an
extraordinary accomplishment. It set the stage for decades of
progress.
The clean and safe drinking water that so many Americans
enjoy today would not have been possible if we acted by
voluntary action by individual water utilities. It could not
have been accomplished by communities and States working
independently. We never could have developed and scaled a
nationwide effort to test, protect and improve our drinking
water without the leadership and reach of the Federal
Government.
It is truly an example of the essential work of our Federal
Government, what it can and must do to stand for our well-
being. As we look back at the last half century and look
forward to the next, I hope that will be our lesson and our
goal.
Thank you for the opportunity to join you today. I look
forward to the discussion.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Fox follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Carper. We look forward to it as well. Thank you
very much, Radhika. Thanks for all of your good work across the
years. We are delighted to see you again.
I want to say before, it is not every day that we get to
welcome a president to our hearings. This is an important
subject, so Mr. President, you are welcomed. Do people ever
call you Mr. President?
Mr. Nygren. Yes.
[Laughter.]
Senator Carper. I think that would be a great perk.
Welcome, Mr. President, and thank you. Please proceed.
STATEMENT OF HON. DR. BUU NYGREN,
PRESIDENT, NAVAJO NATION
Mr. Nygren. Chairman Carper, Ranking Member Capito, thank
you.
Senator Carper. Believe it or not, she pronounces it
``Capito.'' I am sure your name has been mispronounced a time
or two.
Mr. Nygren. Plenty of times. Except around Halloween, when
they are pretty good at it.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Nygren. I want to say thank you so much to the esteemed
members of the committee, as well. Ya'at'eeh. I am Dr. Buu
Nygren, Navajo Nation President. The Navajo Nation is the
largest Native American tribe in the U.S., spanning 17.5
million acres in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. We have over
400,000 enrolled members, half residing on the reservation.
Under the 1868 Treaty, the United States had a legal and moral
obligation to assist the Navajo Nation in addressing the
challenges we face in safeguarding the well-being of our
people.
Thank you for this opportunity to testify on the 50th
anniversary of the Safe Drinking Water Act, which has been
vital for ensuring safe drinking water for many, many Navajo
families in the Nation. The Act enabled the Navajo Nation to
regulate its drinking water systems, marking a significant step
for tribal sovereignty and self-determination.
The Navajo Nation's efforts to ensure safe drinking water
began with the establishment of the Public Water System
Supervision Program (PWSSP) in 1991. This program laid a strong
foundation for regulating and monitoring water systems across
the Nation. Building on this progress, the Navajo Nation
formally adopted the Navajo Nation Safe Drinking Water Act in
1995. This legislation was made to align with the Federal
regulations ensuring that all drinking water systems on the
Navajo Nation met rigorous safety and compliance standards.
In December 2000, the Navajo Nation became the first
federally recognized tribe to attain full authority for
implementing the Safe Drinking Water Act. This historic
milestone solidified the Nation's authority to oversee and
enforce safe drinking water regulations independently.
Today, the PWSSP regulates 26 water purveyors responsible
for 171 water systems providing essential oversight to ensure
clean and safe drinking water for approximately 169,000 of my
tribal members across the Navajo Nation. The program continues
adopting new regulations, ensuring that our water systems
comply with evolving safety standards. This includes monitoring
and reporting on over 90 contaminants and addressing emerging
issues such as arsenic, disinfection by products, and PFAS.
The Public Water System Supervision Program has shown
remarkable leadership and innovation in advancing the Navajo
Nation's access to safe drinking water. One of its key
achievements is developing a formal construction review
program, which ensures that all water system designs, new
construction and safe system upgrades meets stringent safety
and performance standards. This program guarantees that water
infrastructure projects are built to last and serve the needs
of the Navajo Nation's communities effectively.
Additionally, the program has implemented an operator
certificate program to uphold the quality and reliability of
water system operations by providing rigorous training and
certification for our operators. The program ensures that those
managing water and wastewater systems have the expertise to
address the challenges and maintain compliance with safety
regulations. Collaboration has been central to the program's
success.
Through partnerships with the Indian Health Service and the
EPA, the program has significantly reduced contamination levels
in several Navajo communities, including Aneth, Montezuma
Creek, and Greasewood Springs. These efforts involve the
construction of water treatment plants, the extension of
pipelines to bring clean water to areas that previously relied
on less reliable sources. Funding sources like the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Water Infrastructure
Improvements for the Nation Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law, have been very instrumental in extending pipelines and
upgrading infrastructure in the Navajo Nation.
Despite progress in securing safe drinking water for the
Navajo Nation, challenges do remain. Many communities still
lack basic water infrastructure. Building pipelines across
remote, rugged terrain is very costly and time-consuming, often
hindered by logistical and financial constraints. Emerging
contaminants like PFAS and PFOA require advanced monitoring and
treatment and investments in technology.
Additionally, transitioning to surface water systems to
reduce groundwater reliance adds complexities, including staff
training, to meet regulatory standards.
We deeply appreciate the support from Congress and Federal
agencies which has been very essential in advancing safe
drinking water efforts for our people. However, as demands on
our water system grows, additional resources are urgently
needed. We request restoring our annual grant funding for the
Public Water Systems Supervision Program, which was last fully
funded 11 years ago in 2014. With increases in costs since then
and updated funding levels, it is critical to support
enforcements, inspections, operator training, and program
sustainability.
In closing, I urge Congress to continue supporting our
tribal programs like the Navajo PWSSP, and increase funding for
critical infrastructure projects.
Thank you for your time and your continued support. I am
here for any questions that you may have.
Ahehee'on behalf of the Navajo Nation.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Nygren follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Carper. Good. Thank you so much for joining us, and
for your leadership, Mr. President. When is your birthday?
Mr. Nygren. Christmas.
[Laughter.]
Senator Carper. You're kidding. That is great.
All right, well, nice of you to join us. Thank you for your
leadership.
Cathy Tucker-Vogel, where are you from?
STATEMENT OF CATHY TUCKER-VOGEL, PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY SECTION
CHIEF, KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT
Ms. Tucker-Vogel. Good morning, Chairman Carper, Ranking
Member Capito and members of the committee. I am from the great
State of Kansas. I am the Drinking Water Administrator at the
Kansas Department of Health and Environment, but I am also here
today representing the Association of State Drinking Water
Administrators, whose 57 members represent the drinking water
primacy agencies, who work as co-regulators to protect public
health through the implementation of the Safe Drinking Water
Act.
Senator Carper. Welcome. We are delighted that you are
here. Please proceed.
Ms. Tucker-Vogel. In Kansas, I direct the programs that
implement the Safe Drinking Water Act with oversight of about
961 public water supply systems in the State of Kansas that are
all predominantly small and rural. I oversee the approximately
2,000 water operators in the State of Kansas.
Senator Carper. How many people live in Kansas these days?
Ms. Tucker-Vogel. Almost 3 million.
Senator Carper. OK.
Ms. Tucker-Vogel. The 50th anniversary of SDWA provides an
opportunity for us to celebrate successes and identify
approaches to meet our future challenges. The first national
interim primary drinking water regulation, published in 1975,
and I actually have an original copy here, yes, an original
copy of the Federal Register. It was eight and a half pages
long, and set maximum contaminant levels for 18 contaminants.
Today, the most recent publication of 40 C.F.R. Part 141, which
are the Drinking Water Regulations, consists of 343 pages and
regulates over 90 contaminants.
You can see over the past 50 years, our workload has
increased quite a bit.
Primacy agencies and public water supply systems rely on
three programs created in the 1996 amendments to the Safe
Drinking Water Act. Those are the State Revolving Fund, which
has been mentioned here today, and is the foundation for the
implementation of our State drinking water programs.
Since its inception in 1997, the SRFs have provided $57.3
billion in funding for water system improvements. The SRFs have
also provided $5.1 billion in additional subsidy through
principal forgiveness on the loans and many of these projects
benefit small and rural communities.
The second program I want to briefly review is the Capacity
Development Program, which States have used to help small water
systems achieve and maintain technical, financial, and
managerial capacity, and has become an integral part of all
State drinking water programs. I would just note that in
addition, SDWA prohibits awarding loans to water systems that
do not demonstrate TFM capacity.
Finally, the third program I want to highlight is the fact
that Congress recognized that a well-trained and qualified work
force is necessary for water systems to ensure compliance with
regulations. The operator certification program consists of
training, examination, work experience and continuing education
requirements. Those three are really foundational to the
operation of our drinking water programs.
Implementation of SDWA during the past 50 years has
significantly improved public health protection. For example,
the corrosion control requirements in the 1991 Lead and Copper
Rule have reduced exposure to lead from drinking water by 70
percent.
One of the biggest challenges primacy agencies and public
water supply systems face is the number and complexity of new
and proposed drinking water regulations. In the past 3 years,
EPA has published four final regulations and anticipates three
more in 2025. Primacy agencies and water systems struggle to
meet the implementation challenges that these new regulations
impose on our programs.
State primacy agencies really rely on two Federal funding
sources to operate their programs. That is the Public Water
Supply Supervision grants, and the SRF setasides. Since
implementation of the congressionally directed spending in
2022, the base SRF capitalization grants have seen a 45 percent
reduction, while the PWSSP grant allocations have increased
somewhat, about 16 percent over the last 20 years. This
critical source of funding for State programs has not kept up
with inflation and expanding program responsibilities.
Other challenges for States and water systems include
compliance with Buy America, Build America, Davis-Bacon and
American Iron and Steel, the IIJA restriction that only allows
subsidies for disadvantaged communities, work force shortages,
both at the State and local levels and cybersecurity threats
and vulnerabilities.
Although the challenges are many, with improved
collaboration between EPA and States, combined with enhanced
support from Congress, we can continue to protect the Nation's
drinking water. There are actions needed to ensure the
achievements of SDWA over the past 50 years will continue for
the next 50. congressional actions that we would recommend:
provide nationwide waivers for compliance with Build America,
Buy America, American Iron and Steel, and Davis-Bacon
requirements for public water supply systems serving a
population less than 10,000; allow SRF program flexibility to
award additional subsidies to address compliance issues
regardless of disadvantaged community status; fully fund the
SRF capitalization grants; and fund congressionally directed
spending from a source other than the SRF capitalization
grants; increase the annual PWSSP grant appropriation to $200
million per year; and provide dedicated funding to address
cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
In closing, ASDWA and its members are working very hard
every day to ensure the provisions of the SDWA are implemented
in the most effective and efficient manner possible. On behalf
of ASDWA's members, I want to thank you for your continued
investment in America's public water supply systems and the
people they serve. You will find more details regarding my
comments today in my written testimony.
I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you for inviting me to speak today.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Tucker-Vogel follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Carper. Thank you very much for joining us and for
your testimony as well. Our thanks to each of our witnesses. It
is great to see you. Some of you have come a long way and we
are especially grateful for that.
I believe that we can all agree, probably everybody in this
room, probably a lot of the people who are watching this across
the Country, I think we can all agree that every American
deserves access to clean, safe and reliable drinking water.
This hearing commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Safe
Drinking Water Act, a piece of legislation that has enabled
immense progress toward that goal, and really helped to change
the lives and improve the lives of so many people now and in
the last 50 years.
Would each of you share with us for a moment your
perspective on the importance of the Safe Drinking Water Act
for protecting public health? Radhika, please.
Ms. Fox. Yes, thank you, Senator Carper, for the question.
I sort of said it in my opening remarks, that SDWA is a game
changer. It was an absolutely game changer, because it
established a national framework for testing, monitoring and
treating our drinking water. As a result, now 91 percent of
public water systems are delivering drinking water that meets
all national standards. That is an incredible statistic.
Now, we need to be at 100 percent. The drinking water that
Cathy, you and your fellow ASDWA members are responsible for
regulating, President Nygren, what you are doing on the Navajo
Nation, it is because of a national framework that created
uniform expectations that we are still working to meet.
Senator Carper. All right, thank you for that.
Another question for you, Ms. Fox, as our colleagues have
heard me say time and time again, bipartisan solutions are
lasting solutions. In fact, those words, the first time I heard
those words was from Rob Wallace, a close friend of John
Barrasso from Wyoming. It was in this room and he was sitting
right where you are sitting, Cathy, and he had been nominated
by President Trump for a senior position in the Department of
Interior. He said to me in his testimony these words. He said,
bipartisan solutions are lasting solutions. That is what he
said. I think that is something we all agree with, and I think
it is one of the secrets to our success in this committee.
The Safe Drinking Water Act is no exception to that. From
its initial passage in 1974 all the way through passage of the
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law last Congress, all the major
legislation that Congress has passed to protect drinking water
has been bipartisan. I am particularly proud of the bipartisan
efforts of this committee, especially with the leadership of
Senator Capito, to pass drinking water infrastructure
legislation.
My question for you, Radhika, how has bipartisanship played
a role in safe drinking water protections, and what do you see
as a future opportunity going forward for bipartisanship in
this regard?
Ms. Fox. I feel that I just have to start by thanking this
committee for really being a beacon of bipartisanship on water
and environmental issues. It was an honor of a lifetime to be
able to work with all of you for 3 years.
I do think that the successful bipartisan action this
committee has taken on water also reflects the reality for
community and for people. Water knows no political boundaries.
If you have clean, safe water, you fuel the economy. If you do
not, it is a barrier to prosperity.
Interestingly, Senator Carper, just last night I was
reading a roundup of various ballot measures at the local and
State level that were about water and conservation. They
overwhelmingly were supported by voters from New York to
Minnesota. I think it is because people understand that there
is nothing more essential to life than clean, safe water.
I again want to thank the bipartisan action of this
committee. It really has been a beacon of how we can get things
done for the people of this Nation.
Senator Carper. Thank you.
Senator Capito?
Senator Capito. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank all of you.
I think we are very much all aligned in terms of saying the
value of the Safe Drinking Water Act and as we look forward. I
am going to take a little bit different tactic on my questions
here, since I have an expert panel in front of me.
I want to start with you, Ms. Tucker-Vogel. I mentioned
this in my opening statement. Water systems often receive and
encounter PFAS contaminants without producing or intentionally
accepting or distributing them.
Given the EPA's proposed PFAS designation under CERCLA,
what would the impact be for water systems and consumers of the
potential liability that this could place on local utilities
that bear no responsibilities? You said you had 900 separate
systems. You have to be obviously anticipating and thinking
about this.
What is your perspective on the passive receiver issue?
Ms. Tucker-Vogel. If you look at the memo from EPA on their
discretion on enforcement for PFAS under CERCLA, it does exempt
community water systems. Well, I should not say exempt, it says
they will use discretion on enforcement at community water
systems.
However, it does not mention non-community water systems,
non-transient, non-community, which are schools, those non--
residential water systems that serve the same people every day.
The big one that comes to mind is schools.
We would want to make sure that schools are also included
in that discretionary enforcement. Water systems under the new
PFAS rule will have to comply. If they do have PFAS in their
water, they will have to install treatment in order to be
compliant with the new regulation.
Funding will be a big problem. We have done some
preliminary sampling in the State of Kansas. We are fortunate
that we have only identified, so far, about three or four
systems that have detections. We have one system which is a
military base, Fort Leavenworth, which has installed treatment.
Of course, that is a Federal Government responsibility, so that
does not really impact our small systems. They will be very
challenged if we have to start installing this expensive
treatment for PFAS removal.
Senator Capito. OK, thank you. Yes, this is a source of
concern, I think, as we move forward.
Radhika Fox, thank you, and good to see you. Thank you for
the nice compliments, and I hope you are doing well in the
private sector as you have devoted 3 years to us and to your
Country. Thank you for that.
While I have you here, I am going to ask you a question
about something that occurred while you were in your capacity.
You know that the safe drinking level, this maximum containment
level (MCL) is something that I was pushing constantly for, set
a level that we can understand, measure, and be safe with. The
Science Advisory Board was sort of questioning the processes
for setting those levels. They identified major flaws in the
EPA's approach like inconsistent inclusion and exclusion of
epidemiology and animal studies, lack of predefined protocol,
insufficient transparency.
What would your response be to that, and how can we improve
upon the processes, but also make this MCL level workable for
the systems that Ms. Tucker-Vogel talked about? Also the
President of the Navajo Nation is going to have to deal with
this as well.
Ms. Fox. One thing I will say, Senator Capito, having been
at the EPA for 3 years, I absolutely agree and I think Cathy
would probably agree with this, too, there are vast
improvements we can make to the regulatory development process,
creating great efficiency and transparency. From a process
perspective, I absolutely agree with you.
On the question of the process that EPA went through to set
the level at four parts per trillion, what I recall is that was
very much, that was a recommendation that was made by career
staff experts who had reviewed hundreds of studies. We arrived
at the four parts per trillion because some of the more recent
studies from when States had set MCLs showed that PFAS clearly
causes cancer. That is what really led to the decision to set
that at four parts per trillion.
Senator Capito. You do not really have a response to what
the Science Advisory Board, the questions that they raised on
the setting of this level?
Ms. Fox. I believe that there was robust discussion between
the staff who were managing the development of that regulation
and the Science Advisory Board.
Senator Capito. OK, thank you.
Mr. Chairman, I have to go to my other committee. Thank you
all very much.
Senator Carper. Thank you for this morning. Thank you very
much.
Senator Capito. Well, I was going to do a big thank-you to
you and I feel sort of bad, I have not. I am planning one. It
is going to be big.
[Laughter.]
Senator Capito. I did name the bill after you, and other
things. I did not want anybody who was listening to this to
think that I, as the Ranking Member, do not have great
appreciation and admiration for not just our working
relationship but our personal relationship. Our native West
Virginia roots I think have tied us together very early, very
long. I thank you for that. You are just going to be amazed at
what I am going to say later on.
[Laughter.]
Senator Carper. You will get as much time as you want.
Senator Capito. It is my 48th wedding anniversary today.
Senator Carper. Really? Congratulations. That is wonderful.
Senator Capito. Worked for Charlie.
Senator Carper. Tell him we said thanks for sharing you
with all of us. Thanks, and thanks for your kind words. See you
soon.
I think next is Senator Padilla. Senator Padilla, please.
Senator Padilla. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I really appreciate
your holding this hearing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of
the Safe Drinking Water Act, which is a bedrock environmental
law ensuring safe and clean drinking water for all Americans.
Mr. Chairman, earlier, you referenced the right to clean
water, safe water, and reliable water. I also want to add
affordable water to that list of important criteria. In the
very first hearing that I held as chair of the Subcommittee on
Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife, we examined the challenges of
water affordability, especially for small, rural, and tribal
water systems.
Now, unlike a lot of other types of infrastructure projects
that receive Federal funding, drinking water infrastructure is
primarily funded by ratepayers. That has become the case. In
fact, over 90 percent of a typical water utility's revenue
comes directly from customer payments.
As drinking water systems face $625 billion in
infrastructure needs over the next 20 years, what does this
mean for working families, the working families that we
represent, working families across the Country? It means that
many customers are facing water bills that are rising even
faster than inflation overall.
My first question for Ms. Fox, I appreciated your testimony
on the importance of establishing a permanent water assistance
program to help struggling families pay their water bills. That
is why I introduced legislation to establish the Low-Income
Household Water Assistance (LIWAP) Program. Can you speak more
about why a national, permanent assistance program for water is
so critical?
Ms. Fox. First of all, thank you for your leadership,
Senator Padilla, on this issue of water affordability. As I
said in my opening remarks, one in three Americans struggles
with the price of their water bills. If you think about the
fact that ongoing investment is going to be needed in water
infrastructure, this issue of affordability is only going to
increase.
It was quite incredible that Congress established the LIWAP
program, and that has helped hundreds of thousands of families
be able to address arrearages and water affordability costs.
More is needed. We need a permanent water affordability
program. I am very hopeful that this next Congress will sort of
pick up the mantle of your important legislation and get it to
the finish line.
Senator Padilla. Thank you. On a related note, the
increased cost is not just for the replacement of some aging
infrastructure, the expansion to add capacity. It is not just
pipes, it is not just pumps, it is not just the treatment that
is needed to meet important safety standards. Ongoing operation
and maintenance costs are something that is not often
considered. It is important to do so.
Again, this milestone, this hearing presents an opportunity
to reaffirm our commitment to resilient water infrastructure.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law should play a historic and
pivotal role in helping us address some of these deferred
maintenance needs. The operational and maintenance costs are so
critical to sustaining these systems, but often receive
insufficient attention and funding.
Ms. Fox, given that the incoming Administration has already
signaled that they plan to rescind unspent funds for major
multi-year investments, can you speak to the importance of
continued and focused investments in our Nation's water
infrastructure, particularly for ensuring the long-term
sustainability of these systems?
Ms. Fox. Absolutely. If you look, Senator, at any of the
mega-trends in water, what we know is everywhere is becoming
more water insecure. Scarcity is an issue, making sure that our
water systems are fortified in the face of more uncertain
weather patterns. It is absolutely a time to really double down
on investment in water infrastructure.
What I can say about the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, $21
billion is already out from EPA to States, tribes and
territories, like my fellow witnesses said. That money is being
put to work in over 1,200 local water infrastructure projects
in every State across this Country. Every American is really
going to be benefiting from this.
I certainly hope that the incoming Administration will
continue to invest the second half of that Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law funding as well as work in a bipartisan
fashion with Congress to continue to sustain those investments.
I really see the infrastructure dollars and the permanent water
affordability program as two sides of a coin that really can
deliver clean, safe water for the American people.
Senator Padilla. Thank you very much.
Mr. Chairman, just in closing, I want to remind the members
of the committee that we had this hearing, the conversations
that we have had since are truly bipartisan. If you look at the
rural communities that I referenced earlier, the lower income
communities, the tribal communities throughout the Country, it
is not Blue States, it is not Red States, it is truly all of
us. This is an area where there should be significant
bipartisan agreement.
Thank you very much.
Senator Carper. Thank you as well.
Before I turn to Senator Ricketts, I want to say a word of
thanks to both of you for our faithful attendance. You were
preceded here by Barbara Boxer, and my guess is if you choose
to continue to do this line of work for the years to come, and
I hope you will, that you may end up sitting in this seat. If
you do not, you will have to share it with this guy right here,
because nobody is more faithful in attendance than him.
Senator Ricketts, please. Thank you.
Senator Ricketts. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and
thank you very much for your work here on this committee. It
has been a pleasure serving on this committee with you. Thank
you for what you have done.
Thank you to the witnesses who have come here today to
share their experiences. Together, we celebrate the
contributions of water utilities across the Nation and their
work to ensure access to safe drinking water. We should
celebrate safety.
We should also expect to celebrate transparent and
constitutional water regulations under both the Safe Drinking
Water Act and the Clean Water Act. Sadly, starting with the
Obama administration and now with the Biden Administration, the
EPA has pursued implementing the unconstitutional Waters of the
United States Rule, otherwise known as the WOTUS Rule. Put
forward originally by the Obama administration, now by the
Biden Administration, this rule was predictably illegal. The
Biden Administration's pursuit of it has only hurt Americans.
The legal ambiguity around the Biden WOTUS Rule acutely
impacts Nebraska. Nebraska's economy is deeply tied to
agriculture. It is about 20 percent of our State's economy;
about one in four jobs are tied to agriculture in Nebraska.
About 92 percent of our land area in Nebraska is dedicated to
agriculture.
Our farmers and ranchers are the original conservationists.
They protect the land, the animals, the waters, because they
want to pass that land on to the next generation. We have
farmers and ranchers who are third, fourth, fifth, sixth
generation.
They depend on protecting those natural resources. They are
stewards of the land that know their livelihoods and their
families' livelihoods are tied to the health of the land and
water they tend.
They tend to the lands. Nebraskans depend on the Federal
Government to give them clear and transparent guidance. The
Biden WOTUS Rule was the opposite of what Nebraskans needed. It
did not have to be so problematic.
Congress gave the EPA clear definitions of intent. The 1972
Clean Water Act established navigable waters as Waters of the
United States. The 1972 Clean Water Act says navigable waters
50 times. Congress' intent could not have been more clear on
what it was. It was very clear that this is what the EPA had
authority to regulate.
Now, I am a biology major, not a sailor. It seems to me the
plain water definition of navigable is that you can put a boat
on it and you can go someplace. Oh, let's look. Guess what?
Merriam Webster agrees with me. What does Merriam Webster say?
Deep enough and wide enough to afford passage of ships.
Guess who else also agrees? The Supreme Court. The Supreme
Court unanimously ruled that the Biden Administration exceeded
its authority on the Clean Water Act, all nine justices. When
the court is unanimous, I question if the EPA understands the
Clean Water Act. Or maybe the EPA just does not care what the
Clean Water Act boundaries are. Either explanation is
embarrassing.
Sadly, the damage of this rule did not stop with the
Supreme Court decision. The EPA failed to issue clear
implementation of guidelines after the illegal rule was struck
down. Farmers and ranchers have to guess how to comply with the
EPA.
These guidelines are critical. Violation of the Clean Water
Act can carry penalties of up to $64,000 a day. This ongoing
regulatory confusion does not just undermine trust in our
institutions, it jeopardizes the ability of hard-working
Americans to pay their bills, feed their children, and care for
the land and water that they have. They love this land.
Waters of the U.S. is just one example of how the Biden
Administration created regulatory uncertainty. Biden's EPA
created similar issues with other rules on the Safe Drinking
Water Act. They have added costly regulatory burdens for rural
and urban water systems impacting Nebraska households.
I am looking forward to a change in leadership at the EPA
soon. New leadership will give farmers and ranchers,
manufacturers and landowners a transparent and legal regulatory
framework, and new leadership will increase American's access
to clean, safe, and affordable drinking water.
Again, I look forward to having new leadership at the EPA
soon enough, given the regulatory uncertainty that this EPA has
created. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Carper. Thank you as well.
A question, Radhika, for you. Many of us are still
grappling with the results of last month's elections, including
what it means for environmental and public health protections
going forward. Now more than ever, it is important to remain
vigilant about protecting progress that we are making toward
clean drinking water.
Ms. Fox, would you please describe what you will be
watching out for during the next Administration in terms of
drinking water protections? Are there potential policy actions
that the Trump Administration might take that concern you? Go
ahead.
Ms. Fox. Thank you for that question, Senator. I think as
has been a theme of this hearing, the issue of clean, safe
water knows no political boundaries. This committee has been a
shining example of taking bipartisan action to ensure that
every American has access to clean, safe water.
I certainly hope that the next Administration, the Trump
Administration, will continue the work and that the next
Congress will continue that work. I think if you look at, for
example, Senator Carper, the issue of PFAS, this is an area
where you and Senator Capito have worked hand in hand on the
issue. PFAS affects communities all around the Country.
The PFAS drinking water standard that was established
during the Biden Administration really was initiated during the
Trump Administration. While I certainly would expect that they
will be taking a look at the regulation, I certainly am hopeful
that some protection for PFAS is going to be important for the
American people.
Same thing with the Lead and Copper Rule. The Trump
Administration established the Lead and Copper Rule that the
Biden Administration built on. Again, I am hopeful here that
even as refinements are made that these protections are
maintained.
Senator Carper. All right. Thank you for that.
This will be a question for each of you. We will start with
Ms. Tucker-Vogel.
Based on all of your testimony, it is clear that sustained
Federal support is critical to build and rebuild our Nation's
drinking water infrastructure. The Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law that a number of us on this committee have worked very hard
on, and our staffs, has enabled us to make, we believe,
considerable progress. We have also heard about ongoing
challenges that remain unaddressed.
I have long said that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was
a down payment on safe drinking water. Congress will need to
take more actions to protect that investment.
Looking forward, I am going to ask each of you to summarize
the key considerations for Congress to protect safe drinking
water. What should be in a potential future supplemental
funding package for drinking water infrastructure? Where do you
see agreement with your fellow witnesses? Ms. Tucker-Vogel,
will you lead off with that, then we will go to the president,
then back to Radhika.
Ms. Tucker-Vogel. If you go back to my comments about
things, from a State drinking water agency perspective, and the
fact that drinking water touches everyone every day in every
community, and it is the primary public health protection
measure that we can provide to our citizens.
As far as congressional actions, the Buy America, Build
America, American Iron and Steel, and Davis-Bacon are really a
burden on especially the small water systems that we are
primarily talking about and that primarily exist in the State
of Kansas.
Providing some relief, maybe some waivers, for those
serving less than 10,000 would be very beneficial and allow
those small systems to take advantage of the SRF program and
the other grant programs, the emerging contaminants for small
and disadvantaged communities, and the grants for small,
underserved and disadvantaged communities which are outside of
the SRF programs, but still very important funding to help
these small communities, and allow the SRF programs some
flexibility in awarding the additional subsidy grants principal
forgiveness in the SRF program, so that a water system that may
be having compliance issues, say, with nitrates, in Kansas we
are seeing a real uptick in nitrate contamination.
They may not be a disadvantaged community at the point they
are making the loan application, but if you start talking about
a $3.5 million nitrate removal treatment plant, the cost of
installing that treatment plant could very well tip them over
the edge into being a disadvantaged community just by simply
the operational costs and the water rates that would have to go
along with that to repay the loan.
Providing States some flexibility on how we assign
additional subsidy would be very helpful as well.
Senator Carper. Good. We have been rejoined by Senator
Kelly. While he takes his seat, Mr. President Nygren, we will
come back to you once Senator Kelly has had an opportunity to
get settled in and ask his questions. Then the same question of
Radhika. I will just restate that question, actually two
questions that are related. I am going to ask each of you to
address this.
Looking forward, would you please summarize the key
considerations for Congress to protect safe drinking water, and
what should be in a potential supplemental funding package for
drinking water infrastructure? Where do you see agreement with
your fellow witnesses? We will come back once he has asked his
questions.
Senator Kelly, thanks for rejoining us.
Senator Kelly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
President Nygren, thanks again for joining us today. I want
to ask you to expand upon your testimony where you discuss the
importance of making sure the tribal communities receive not
just funding for physical building infrastructure, but also for
staff, training, and work force development to make sure tribes
can operate and maintain drinking water systems.
First, can you expand upon what you said during your
opening remarks to explain what types of funding the Navajo
Nation has received in prior years to administer drinking water
programs? I am talking about previous years. What were the
types of funding that the Nation received?
Mr. Nygren. Thank you, Senator. As mentioned in my
testimony, we currently receive the Public Water Systems
Supervision grant, and we feel like it has not been fully
funded since 2014. I have been told that it is about half
funded since then. Really to continue to roll out the Safe
Drinking Water Act, to make sure that that program is funded,
we would really appreciate that.
The other funding that we have gotten is the Source Water
Protection Grant. I am told that it was about $200,000, around
that number, that we have received, to try to provide some
quality source water prevention from contamination as well.
Then the other grant that we received is to make sure that
these grants continue to work together in partnership to have
us continue to implement these grants. Sometimes the resources
and the dollars we get are not quite enough. The vastness of
the Navajo Nation, we have, as I mentioned earlier, about the
size of West Virginia, two and a half times the size of
Massachusetts. Really, to implement the resources that are
needed we have to make sure that we have our personnel to be
out in the community, testing, whether it is well water,
testing existing water systems that have not been looked at in
a long time.
Again, the funding that we get we really hope that we ca
get it fully funded to make sure that we meet those demands.
Senator Kelly. Even when it is fully funded, do you feel
like it is still an insufficient amount of money to do the work
you need? Is that correct?
Mr. Nygren. Yes, definitely. As I was talking with our EPA
team, that they have not gone out and evaluated some of the
groundwater systems that have like windmills that a lot of our
people continue to use, having grown up 19 years, I grew up on
well water, and the discussions I had with EPA was, I wonder if
the well water that I drank for 19 years, I wonder if it was
ever tested.
A lot of communities still use well water, spring water.
Some of the spring waters on Navajo, they have had traces of
uranium, but sometimes communities just need to drink water to
satisfy their thirst. Again, I think that if we were fully
resourced above and beyond what we are requesting at the
moment, it would really help us. There is still 30 percent of
the population that still does not have access to clean,
reliable drinking water, because most of them have to haul the
water miles and miles at a time.
Senator Kelly. I have a staff member who works for me in-
state, who you know, who has to haul water every week. The
frequency varies based on the time of year and how much water
people tend to use.
Can you talk a little bit about staffing capacity and how
the funds that we provide help you administer these programs
and why this is so important to tribal communities?
Mr. Nygren. When it comes to the staffing, we are
definitely using the dollars that we can get. Again, we staff
them with as many people as we possibly can. But as I mentioned
earlier, we have some personnel that continue to try to monitor
as much as they can.
As far as the other resources that we have received, I know
it is like the ARPA money, the Bipartisan Infrastructure
dollars, especially with the Gallup water supply and trying to
complete some of those resources, we have really been trying to
implement a lot of those working with our Navajo Tribal Utility
Authority, some of the bipartisan money that has come down from
Congress. We have continued to connect people to water on a
month-to-month basis. Again, that is just using existing water
sources, and I know at the moment, you are championing one of
our biggest water rights settlement the time.
To really continue to build that out, we really need to
have a really good idea of how much water we are going to have
as we continue to build out some of those clean water efforts.
Senator Kelly. If you know, how many families are getting
access via piped water to their homes, on average, each month?
Mr. Nygren. On average, I think the number that I recently
got about a month ago is over the past year we have connected,
I think it was about 700 homes over the past year. Again, if
you divide that, I am probably not as quick as you at math, 60
something a month.
Senator Kelly. Sixty something. Yes.
I will come back to you, Mr. President, in a second. Ms.
Fox, can you describe what ways the Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law in the Biden Administration worked to provide additional
capacity building assistance to help tribal communities?
Ms. Fox. Absolutely. During my time at the EPA, we
established the first-ever tribal water action plan, which was
the Biden Administration's commitment to strengthen the nation-
to-nation relationship with tribes through the implementation
of the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act. That
tribal water action plan included several things. One was to
invest more in technical assistance to support tribes, and I
talked about some of that technical assistance work earlier.
There was also a commitment to help an additional 100
tribes get treatment at State, so they could also be setting
and managing the water regulations. Then there were several
rulemakings that were really focused on better aligning the
implementation of the Clean Water Act with tribal treaty
rights.
Of course there is more work to be done. Those were some
examples of the efforts that we partook in.
Senator Kelly. Can you think of additional resources you
might need or additional authorities that the EPA could benefit
from to help tribal communities meet their drinking water
needs?
Ms. Fox. I would absolutely agree with the recommendations
that President Nygren has already made. I think that we have
well established programs for technical assistance, for
infrastructure. We really just need to continue resourcing
them, so that we can reach more communities.
Senator Kelly. I think I am a little bit over my time, but
one suggestion for President Nygren, when you come back to the
committee and the Chair will be Senator Capito from West
Virginia, I often talk about the Navajo Nation not being twice
the size of Massachusetts, but being almost as big as West
Virginia.
[Laughter.]
Senator Kelly. Just for your information.
With that, I will turn it back over to Mr. Chairman.
Senator Carper. As a native of West Virginia, I would just
say, almost heaven, almost heaven, West Virginia. Thank you,
Senator Kelly. You have been a great member of this committee.
It has been an honor to have served with you, and in the Navy.
We are probably the only committee in the Congress where we
have two retired Navy captains serving on the same committee in
lockstep with a bunch of Republicans and Democrats. Thank you
very much.
Senator Kelly. Even though we did not serve in the Navy at
the same time.
[Laughter.]
Senator Carper. That is true. I served when they had wooden
ships.
[Laughter.]
Senator Kelly. Cannons.
Senator Carper. Cannons, there you go.
Before we wrap it up, I would just say, let's go back to
the last question. I think we heard from you, Ms. Tucker-Vogel.
President Nygren, I would like to hear from you and Radhika on
the last question, please.
Mr. Nygren. Thank you. I believe that one of the things I
think about when it comes to how do we continue to promote the
Clean Drinking Water Act is to make sure that as we continue to
fund our efforts, as I mentioned earlier, the Navajo Nation
still has thousands and thousands of people without running
water and access to clean drinking water. We need to continue
to have that support from Congress, continue to have that
support from the EPA, from the Department of Interior and IHS
as we continue to partner to make sure that we continue to
deploy our efforts to bring water to families every week.
One of the things I also think about, too, is to make sure
that some efforts on trying to secure water rights, that is one
of the biggest initiatives that we have on behalf of the Navajo
Nation, is that we have secured some water rights in the San
Juan River on the New Mexico side, the Utah water rights as
well.
In Arizona, we are still continuing to fight. Arizona,
actually, is 60 percent of the Navajo Nation, and we have not
secured our water rights for 60 percent of the Nation as well.
That fight, I think if we can continue to get that accomplished
and really have a future that the Navajo Nation can plan around
that would be amazing to see. As I mentioned in my testimony,
bringing water on the Navajo Nation, you have rough terrain,
you have rocks, you need trenchers to try to go through the
rock to bring water to some of the western part of the Navajo
Nation.
There are a lot of challenges. If we can continue to make
sure that we can secure our water, our water rights, that would
help us tremendously.
Senator Carper. Good. Thank you for that.
Ms. Fox. Senator, I just want to appreciate you for this
hearing, to take a moment to kind of reflect on our progress. I
think so often when we do this work, we are thinking about what
is next, what are the challenges that we have not dealt with
yet.
If you think about it, 50 years ago, Safe Drinking Water
Act, 52 year ago, we had the Clean Water Act, two incredibly
important canons of environmental regulation. We have gone from
human waste in our drinking water, we have gone from rivers on
fire because there was so much pollution to really, really
incredible progress for the American people because of what
this body, Congress, did for the American people.
Then I think about under your leadership, Senator Capito's
leadership, we got $50 billion, so another 50, $50 billion in
funding for water infrastructure, which is really setting the
stage for the next 50 years of progress. I think we just have
to keep going, continue. We do not always get the policy right;
we do not ever have all the money that we need.
Over the last 3 years, 4 years, we have really made
progress. I think it is time to just keep going. When we bet on
water, America wins.
Senator Carper. I like that. Let me just ask one last
question. Sometimes I ask, is there a question you wish you had
been asked today but you were not. If there is one, give us the
question and your answer, please. Go ahead.
Ms. Tucker-Vogel. I did not quite hear what you said.
Senator Carper. Sometimes I like to say to the witnesses,
especially when we have a lot of concurrence, a lot of
agreement, if there is any question that you wish you had been
asked but were not.
Ms. Tucker-Vogel. A question I wish I had been asked?
Senator Carper. Yes, you get to ask a question and answer
that question.
Ms. Tucker-Vogel. One of the things I touched on briefly
was work force issues. I think it is very important to
recognize we have work force challenges, not only at water
systems with the greying of our water operators, if you will.
Many of them are retiring. The younger folks are not really
interested in working in a public water supply system where you
are on call 24-7, 365 days out of the year. Salaries are low.
We have those same problems with State agencies and people
that provide the assistance to those water systems.
Looking at ways to perhaps support work force issues, to
help grow the work force, to make being a water operator an
attractive career for folks coming out of college. I will give
you a couple of examples. What we have done in Kansas, our
junior colleges, community colleges, are going directly to high
schools trying to get high school seniors who may not be
interested in going to college into the water sector work.
The National Rural Water Association has an apprenticeship
program. Kansas has done, I believe, about 19 water operators
have gone through the apprenticeship program in the last three
to 4 years. Nine of them have successfully passed their water
operator examinations and are now out working in our small
communities.
Those kinds of efforts to shore up work force issues and
provide some support to expand our work force issue efforts I
think would be very helpful.
Senator Carper. That is good. I was privileged to serve as
Governor of Delaware for 8 years, and chaired the National
Governors Association for some of those years. The NGA has what
they call a Center for Best Practices. It is a clearinghouse
for ideas that may come out of Kansas, out of West Virginia,
out of Delaware. We just share them across geographical lines
and State lines.
The idea is to figure out what works and do more of that,
and to make it easier to share those ideas. What you have just
shared with us is another example of that.
President Nygren, do people ever mispronounce your name?
Your last name? Mr. President, go ahead. Is there anything you
wish you had been asked but have not been?
Mr. Nygren. I can agree with Cathy, I am glad she brought
that up. Work force development in the Nation, especially with
the aging work force and trying to continue to entice high
school students to really pursue their trades and to give every
opportunity so that we can have a lot more people working out
in the skilled labor force is really definitely needed, not
only there but here on the Navajo Nation as well.
I am definitely glad that question was brought up. Overall,
I am just very happy that this committee, as mentioned by
everyone on this panel today, we are very appreciative that we
have bipartisan support to try to get water to every American.
I appreciate your leadership, and thank you so much, Senator
Carper.
Senator Carper. Thank you. People in the future will say,
what do you most remember about chairing the Committee on
Environment and Public Works? I will say, the last hearing that
I chaired. They will say, why is that? I will say, the
president was there.
[Laughter.]
Senator Carper. All right, Radhika.
Ms. Fox. As you know, Senator, I have been asked lots and
lots of questions by this committee over the last several
years.
Senator Carper. Yes, you have.
Ms. Fox. I think the question that I wish I was asked is,
what is your favorite quality when it comes to Senator Carper.
I would say it is your heart.
I want to close with this story.
Senator Carper. Remember, this is a PG audience.
[Laughter.]
Ms. Fox. Back in June 2021, when I was confirmed by the
Senate, I was sitting in my home, it was in the evening, and a
phone number I did not recognize showed up on my cell phone. It
was Senator Carper. He was on the train home to Delaware, and
he called just to say congratulations, and I expect you to do
good stuff.
Then he said, because he had met my husband at my
confirmation hearing, he said, is your husband there? So I went
and got my husband and Senator Carper said, thank you, thank
you for sharing your wife with the Country.
Then he remembered that my dad had come out, during COVID,
to the confirmation hearing. It was the first time I had seen
my dad in months and months because of COVID. He said, is your
dad there? I said, my dad lives somewhere else. He said, can
you conference him in?
I conferenced my dad in, and I was like, Dad, Senator
Carper is on the line for you. He was like, what? You just were
so kind to my father, who you know as an immigrant came to this
Country from rural India. You remember that story about my
father, that he lived in a small village without running water,
and that his daughter became the first woman of color to run
the water program for the Country. You remembered that.
Senator Carper, I want to thank you for your service, for
always doing this work of policy from a place thinking about
people and with such a good heart. Thank you.
Senator Carper. You are kind to say that. Thank you very,
very much for that.
Speaking of spouses and parents, Senator Kelly and I spent
a lot of years in uniform in the Navy. Back in World War II,
especially, a bunch of true heroes, one of those was Bob Dole
from Kansas, he ended up as a Senator here. He was a leader. He
ran for President, and had an extraordinary career. His wife,
Elizabeth, was nominated to serve in a position that required
Senate confirmation. It was a great story.
I do not know if they were at this room and this table, but
there is a tradition that when people are nominated for Senate
confirmable positions that their home State Senator might come
and introduce them to the colleagues on the committee. The
story is, it is a true story, that when Elizabeth Dole came for
her confirmation hearing before the appropriate Senate
committee, her husband sat next to her to introduce her. He
said these words to his Senate colleagues, Robert Dole, these
were his words. He said, ``I regret that I have but one wife to
give for my Country.
[Laughter.]
Senator Carper. He has passed, and he left a great legacy
here. She is still alive and doing a whole lot of great stuff
with her life. Remember us to your family, especially your
husband.
A lot of times members of the committee, my colleagues and
I, get thanked for our service, for what we do. People have
been very kind to Ben Cardin and me and others, Debbie
Stabenow, who is stepping down at the end of this year. I have
been doing a number of interviews, looking back, legacy kind of
interviews, which are interesting and fun.
People ask me, what is my secret to success. I will say, my
sister and I picked the right parents. Not a lot of money but
good values and deep faith and hard work. A real love for this
planet and the idea that we have a moral obligation to protect
this creation that we all call home, this planet Earth. I think
that is something that goes across party lines in this
committee. It is a good thing.
One story, I have said it, I may have said it today but I
want to say it again. It is one of my favorite experiences.
People say to me, what do you most remember in your 24 years in
the Senate. I remember the night we were up all night debating
the Inflation Reduction Act, which actually has a lot of clean
energy provisions in it that deal with water and air and so
forth. We were debating up until the wee hours of the morning
that legislation and the Inflation Reduction Act.
We finally voted about 3 or 4 in the morning and it passed
with one vote. Vice President Kamala Harris came out and
presided over the Senate for the last vote. It was a 50-50
vote; she broke the tie. I spoke to her afterward, things went
crazy and people were celebrating, a lot of crying for some for
different reasons on the passage of the Inflation Reduction
Act. It think we are finding it is something we can live with
and do well, create a lot of jobs across the Country.
I left there, I go back and forth on the train a lot like
Joe Biden used to do, but that morning I caught a train around
6 o'clock back to Delaware. We were finished in the Senate and
I caught a train and headed back and got up in Wilmington.
I do not know how many of have, in your States, WaWas. We
have them all up and down the east coast. I love Wawa. Those of
you who are familiar with them probably love it, too.
Anyway, rather than driving home, it was about 7:30 in the
morning, I was dead tired, but rather than driving home I said,
I am going to go get a cup of coffee at Wawa. I did. I got a
small cup of coffee and went to the cashier to pay for it. She
knew who I was, and was very kind. I had a small cup.
She said, your money is no good here for a small cup of
coffee. That is what she said, isn't that nice? Your money is
no good here for a small cup of coffee. I said, can I get a
larger cup of coffee? She said no. Your money is no good here
for a small cup of coffee.
Then she went on to say this. She said, you have been up
all night, haven't you? I said, yes, we have, with my
colleagues. She said, I know what you have been doing. She
said, I have a son and a daughter, and I want to make sure that
they have a planet to grow up on and a planet to grow old on.
Think about that. A planet to grow up on and a planet to grow
old on. She said, I know that is what you have been working on.
I said, I want to make sure they have a planet to grow up
on and grow old on, and hope some day that, my wife and I have
several sons. We hope some day to have some grandchildren, and
we want to make sure that they have a planet to grow up on and
grow old on.
I also want to make sure, and I said this to the lady that
morning, I also want to make sure that your kids and
everybody's kids have not just a planet to grow up on, I want
to make sure they have jobs that they can support themselves
and their families. As it turns out, we can do both.
For as long as I have been on this committee, 24 years,
that is what we have been, trying to make sure that we do have
a planet to grow up on and grow old on, for those who follow
us. Also to make sure that the economy of this Country remains
vibrant, and it is. To make sure it continues to produce jobs
at an incredible pace without going forward into the future.
Let me say to our staff members, those on the Republican
side who work under the leadership of Senator Capito, who has
been a wonderful colleague and partner on so many things,
including today, to express my sympathy that you have to put up
with guys like me from time to time. Really to express my
thanks for our staff members who are here, over my right
shoulder. I do not see Adam, who is their leader on the staff
side. Tell him that some nice things were said about him in his
absence.
To the folks on my left here, led by in part by Elizabeth
Grace and Courtney, our thanks to all of you.
To members and my colleagues who have been great
collaborators for good, it has been a joy. I look forward to
coming back and visiting from time to time.
With that, final housekeeping. I want to again thank our
witnesses for your time and your testimony, for what you do
with your lives. Ensuring access to clean drinking water has
been a priority for me throughout my career, since my sister
and I were little kids. We lived alongside Beaver Creek outside
Beckley, West Virginia, a creek that was so polluted you could
not drink it, you could not eat the fish out of that creek. My
training, as somebody who cares about the environment, started
right there as a little boy.
While the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is enabling
considerable progress toward meeting our Nation's drinking
water infrastructure needs, there are still major challenges
and opportunities that the Congress needs to address and must
address. Today we were able to learn about some of those
challenges and consider what communities will need going
forward to ensure that all Americans have access to clean
drinking water.
We have heard, I think, important perspectives today. There
are many more perspectives that can and should inform this
important discussion.
To that end, I ask unanimous consent to submit for the
record letters from a variety of stakeholders that relate to
today's hearing. I would ask unanimous consent for that.
Hearing no objection, that is one of my favorite things I
do as the Chair, I wait until none of my colleagues are here,
then I make a unanimous consent request. I could ask for the
moon, and there is nobody here to object. I have not gotten
into any trouble yet. Hopefully I will escape today as well.
[The referenced information follows:]
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Senator Carper. Final housekeeping. Senators will be
allowed to submit questions for the record through the close of
business on December 4th. We will compile those questions, we
will send them to each of you, and we are going to ask you to
respond to us by December 18th.
Anything else? No. With that, it is a wrap. This hearing is
adjourned. Thank you all.
[Whereupon, at 11:50 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
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