April 06, 2022

EPA Administrator: Duckworth-sponsored Bill Would Help Bring Down Gas Prices for Working Families

During Senate hearing today, Administrator Regan also confirmed Duckworth’s bipartisan DWWIA, which is now law, will help environmental justice communities like Cahokia Heights finally address their water infrastructure crises

 

[WASHINGTON, DC] – At today’s U.S. Senate Environment & Public Works Committee hearing examining the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) FY2023 budget request, EPA Administrator Michael Regan confirmed that legislation cosponsored by U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) to make E15 fuels available year-round would help bring down gas prices at the pump for working families. Video of Duckworth and Regan’s conversation at today’s hearing is available here.

“I do believe E15 can provide a less expensive option based on the data we’ve seen,” Administrator Regan replied to a question from Duckworth. “I also can say that we are evaluating what options we might have at EPA to look at utilizing E15 at a level that would be helpful to the American people and to help alleviate some of the pain that we’ve seen since Russia launched its war against Ukraine.”

During the Senator’s conversation with Administrator Regan this morning, Duckworth also asked whether her bipartisan Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act (DWWIA), which became law as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in November, will help disadvantaged and underserved communities address their water infrastructure crises. One of these communities, Cahokia Heights in Illinois, has for years been plagued by dilapidated wastewater infrastructure that causes raw sewage to seep into residents’ yards whenever there’s a heavy rain, yet prior to DWWIA becoming law, there were almost no viable EPA grant opportunities available to help the community alleviate these issues.

“A unique aspect of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is… the opportunity for communities who have never had a seat at the table to actually compete for these resources because they are forgivable loans or they don’t require significant matches,” replied Administrator Regan. “What we’re doing to increase their competitiveness is providing unprecedented for technical assistance so that many of these disadvantaged communities can put forward competitive proposals to finally receive the resources that they need. So what I would say is we’re grateful for the construct of [Duckworth’s DWWIA law included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law]… We want to deploy technical assistance for communities like Cahokia Heights or some of the other cities across the country.”

Duckworth’s bipartisan DWWIA would also help rebuild our nation’s crumbling and dangerous water infrastructure by providing additional resources to get lead out of our nation’s drinking water. As a result of her leadership, Illinois—which contains the most known lead service lines of any state in the nation—will be able to dramatically accelerate projects to remove dangerous lead pipes and protect countless children against permanent, irreversible brain damage from drinking lead-contaminated water.

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