To ensure underserved rural communities have access to basic wastewater infrastructure, the Biden-Harris administration is launching a new partnership between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The Closing America’s Wastewater Access Gap Community Initiative will start as a pilot in 11 communities across the country currently lacking this essential infrastructure. They are:
- Bolivar County, Mississippi;
- Doña Ana County, New Mexico;
- Duplin County, North Carolina;
- Greene County, Alabama;
- Halifax County, North Carolina;
- Harlan County, Kentucky;
- Lowndes County, Alabama;
- McDowell County, West Virginia;
- Raleigh County, West Virginia;
- San Carlos Apache Tribe, Arizona; and,
- Santo Domingo Pueblo, New Mexico.
Several of these communities are also participating in the recently announced Rural Partners Network, a parallel pilot program to coordinate across government agencies for better access to federal resources in underserved rural communities.
In the US, an estimated 2.2 million people live without running water or basic plumbing in their homes, and many more live with outdated, damaged, or insufficient wastewater systems that put their health at risk.
