Heitkamp’s Bipartisan Legislation to Promote & Protect Rural Water Supplies is Signed into Law
Senator’s Bipartisan Legislation Makes Sure Rural & Small ND Towns Have Safe, Clean Drinking Water
WASHINGTON, D.C. – December 16, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today announced the President signed into law her bipartisan legislation to help make sure small and rural towns across the country have access to clean drinking water.
Heitkamp introduced her Grassroots Rural and Small Community Water Systems Assistance Act with Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi in March to make sure small towns and rural areas have the necessary technical assistance and training to protect and improve their water supplies. Now that the bill is law, small and rural towns – often lacking the resources to the latest technology or access to proper technological assistance to comply with federal drinking water rules – will have access to federal assistance to help them offset the cost of complying. Specifically, Heitkamp and Wicker’s bill will provide $15 million in annual support for technical assistance and training to make sure residents and business in small and rural towns can access clean drinking water.
The President’s signature of Heitkamp’s bill follows its passage in the U.S. House of Representatives last month, and the Senate’s unanimous approval of the legislation in June.
“Having grown up in a small town like Mantador, I know how important linking rural communities across North Dakota to vital lifelines like safe, reliable drinking water is,” said Heitkamp. “Today we are helping make that goal feasible, as the President signed the bipartisan bill I introduced with Senator Wicker to make sure families and businesses in small and rural communities have the latest technology and the training to access clean drinking water. Every farming and rural town across our state needed access to essential resources like clean drinking water to keep our statewide community connected and safe.”
“More than 90 percent of the drinking water supplied in our country comes from small and rural communities, many of which lack the resources to meet revised EPA safe drinking water standards,” said Wicker. “In order for these areas to comply with federal regulations, they need greater access to critical assistance and training programs. I am pleased that Sen. Heitkamp, Rep. Harper, and I were able to work together on a bill that helps guarantee that the nation’s rural areas will be able to provide safe, clean water for their citizens.”
“Senator Heitkamp has been steadfast in her work to advocate for the vital resources 50,000 small and rural communities nationwide need every day,” said Eric Volk, Executive Director of the North Dakota Rural Water Association. “As a result of her efforts to provide safe, clean drinking water to rural citizens, President Obama signed her bipartisan legislation into law today to bring Americans in rural towns and communities across our state and the country – comprising more than 90 percent of this country’s water supplies – an environmentally beneficial solution so that they can access the latest technology and expertise needed to consistently bring clean drinking water into their homes and businesses.”
Heitkamp has long worked to encourage increased resources and assistance for rural areas. In November 2014, Heitkamp met with Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Acting Administrator Jasper Schneider to discuss the need for targeted investments, like water infrastructure, in rural communities across the nation. On the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Heitkamp serves as Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy – which oversees RUS.
The 2014 Farm Bill – which Heitkamp played a leading role in writing, negotiating, and passing – places a strong emphasis on supporting rural development projects. The law authorizes programs that help upgrade and improve rural water systems, invest in expanding rural high-speed Internet, provide loans to consumers to improve energy efficiency through the new Rural Energy Savings Program, and reauthorize several other existing programs that are critical to supporting economic and community development in rural America.
