The signing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was historic. But our work is just getting started.

March 3, 2022

I’ve been at EPA for over a year now, but the best day on the job came 11 months in. It was a crisp fall afternoon in November. The sun was shining down on the White House Lawn, and behind a podium bearing the Presidential seal, flags of every color whipped in the wind. 

I watched President Biden, surrounded by a group of bipartisan lawmakers, sign the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal into law. This wasn’t just the best day I’d had as EPA Water’s chief; it was a monumental day in the nation’s history. 

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law recognizes how essential water is to public health, our economy, community well-being, and so much more. From the moment we wake up in the morning and brew a cup of coffee to the moment before bed when we brush our teeth, water is an irreplaceable part of our daily life.

As I witnessed the signing, I knew that Bipartisan Infrastructure Law would deliver big things for water and at a critical moment too. The nation’s water infrastructure is decades old, with some systems tracing their construction back a century. Over the past 30 years, the federal government’s investment in water infrastructure has plummeted, leaving us with pipes, water plants, and pumps at the end of their lifespans. 

Water utilities are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Cities desperately need to upgrade infrastructure but doing that alone could lead to rate increases and make water inaccessible for our most vulnerable neighbors. 

A water main breaks every two minutes in this country, and our infrastructure is straining under the impacts of the climate crisis as droughts, floods and major weather events become increasingly common. Investment is needed, not only for aging water plants but to remove the harmful lead pipes that run from our streets to our homes to deliver drinking water. 

If you live in one of the 10 million homes or your child attends one of the 400,000 schools or childcare centers that still has lead pipes in them, you face a clear and present danger to your child’s health and your health now. This law is going to start to replace 100% of the nation’s lead pipes and service lines – so every American, every child can turn on the faucet and drink clean water.– President Biden, November 15, 2021

Outdated and overworked water infrastructure puts our communities at risk. It compromises the health of the American people, threatens our security, and keeps us stuck in the past—unable to meet the demands of a changing world. 

These problems are multiplied in the many communities—from rural America to urban centers and in-between—where infrastructure investment never came.  

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was informed by all of these challenges, and its signing was a message that now is time for action. Now is water’s moment. 

Stewarding Investments to Build A Better America 

I left the White House with renewed commitment, because our work at EPA’s Office of Water was just beginning. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is the single largest investment the federal government has ever made in water with $50 billion to protect treasured waterbodies, remove lead pipes, address emerging contaminants and invest in the nation’s drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. 

Congress delivered big and in a bipartisan way. Now it’s EPA’s turn to help steward these resources, especially the grants and forgivable loans that will have a lifechanging impact on disadvantaged communities.  

- Radhika Fox, Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Water

Most of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for water will be invested through the State Revolving Funds (SRF). The SRF programs have been around for decades and have invested over $200 billion since 1988. They are powerful tools for infrastructure investment. 

And now the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has supercharged the SRFs with an infusion of money and by removing barriers that have left many communities out of the picture. 

Through the Law, $43 billion will go to the SRFs over five years.  EPA has already announced the estimated allotments for the first year. We will invest about $8 billion per year through the SRFs—and that is on top of the base SRF investments that will continue. Learn more about Water Infrastructure Investments made possible through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

What makes Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding truly a gamechanger is that nearly half of the SRF funding can go to communities as grants and forgivable loans. Communities that have struggled to compete for loans will have a chance to secure much-needed funding for their water systems. 

This is where we must come together and seize the opportunity to do better by working together. 

EPA’s implementation memo will detail how the agency will collaborate with states, tribes, and territories to achieve what Administrator Regan recently articulated as priorities in a letter to governors. While more information will be released soon, priorities include: 

• Targeting resources to disadvantaged communities 
• Making rapid progress on lead-free water for all 
• Tackling forever chemicals 

Now more than ever, we have an opportunity to bend the arc of these investments to address the challenges the most vulnerable among us face. Our implementation memo will help state partners get the maximum impact from their investments while tackling the nation’s most urgent water challenges.  

My message to states and local communities is that you are not alone. EPA will be with you every step of the way and the first one we will take together will be detailed in this memo. 

All of this work is in the hope that, decades from today, our grandchildren will drink tap water without fearing what’s in it. Future generations will fish in local waterbodies and grill their catch for dinner. Our water infrastructure will be resilient in the face of a changing climate. 

Together, we can make this future a reality. Let’s get started. 

About the Author

Radhika Fox
Assistant Administrator
Office of Water

Radhika Fox is the Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water. The Office of Water works to ensure that drinking water is safe, wastewater is safely returned to the environment, and surface waters are properly managed and protected. Prior to joining EPA, Radhika served as Chief Executive Officer for the U.S. Water Alliance, Director for policy and government affairs for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and the Federal Policy Director at PolicyLink. Radhika has used her 20+ years of experience to address the most salient water issues facing the nation—including climate change, affordability, equity, governance, innovative finance, and the evolution of the One Water movement. Radhika holds a B.A. from Columbia University and a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the University of California at Berkeley where she was a HUD Community Development Fellow.