Prairie State Wire

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), co-founder of the Senate’s first Environmental Justice Caucus, today announced that $3.5 million she secured through a Fiscal Year 2022 Congressionally Directed Spending Request will be sent by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to the City of Harvey for its Central Area Water and Sewer Improvement Project. This Duckworth-secured federal funding will increase Harvey’s financial capacity to implement long-overdue water infrastructure upgrades to help address chronic flooding and reduce resource costs for breaks and leaks repairs, while also helping provide higher quality drinking water to residents.

“Our state and our nation are stronger when we invest in our communities and families—and that’s one of the things Congressionally Directed Spending allows us to do,” said Duckworth. “I’m so proud I was able to secure this critical support for the community of Harvey. I’m dedicated to ensuring historically under-resourced communities have the support they need to invest in, repair and update their drinking water and wastewater systems to have safe, reliable water. Every American has a right to clean water—no matter their zip code.”

“To receive a $3.5 million award from the EPA is both an honor and a privilege,” said Harvey Mayor Christopher J. Clark. “These funds, which are earmarked for the Central Area Water and Sewage Improvement Project in the City of Harvey, will significantly enhance our city’s infrastructure, ensuring a more sustainable and prosperous future for our residents. This award also re-enforces our commitment to forging important relationships. We extend our deepest gratitude to Senator Tammy Duckworth for her steadfast efforts in securing these vital funds through the FY22 Congressionally Directed Spending process and look forward to collaborating on more initiatives that lead to a better quality of life for Harvey citizens.”

In FY22, Duckworth and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) secured $211 million through Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) for Illinois, including $1.5 million to help the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago address sanitary sewer overflows in four disproportionately impacted municipalities, including Harvey. The Senators secured another $182 million for Illinois in FY23. The CDS process does not represent new spending, rather it enables Members of Congress to allocate existing funding for specific local projects by units of government, nonprofit organizations and other organizations that meet strict eligibility requirements.

Senator Duckworth has been a consistent advocate for environmental justice including clean water for every American. Her Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act, which has a focus on disadvantaged communities and was included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will help rebuild our nation’s crumbling and dangerous water infrastructure and enable communities to repair and modernize their failing drinking water, stormwater and wastewater systems, while creating jobs. Duckworth is also the co-founder of the U.S. Senate’s first-ever Environmental Justice Caucus, which focuses on advocating for communities that have been disproportionately impacted by environmental injustices and helped secure $3 billion in funding for Environmental Justice block grants in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Original source can be found here.