Senate Adopts Booker, Tuberville Amendment to Boost Funding for Low-Income Households to Install Wastewater Systems

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate adopted an amendment authored by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) that would increase funding for the Rural Decentralized Water Systems Program – funding that will allow more low-income Americans in rural communities to access grants and loans to install or repair household sewage systems. The increased funding will now be included in the so-called Minibus Appropriations bill currently being considered by the Senate.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over a million homes in the United States lack adequate plumbing, with nearly 200,000 having no sewage system at all. Often this leads to the piping of raw sewage from homes directly into their back yards, with substantial negative impacts on public health and the environment.

To address this issue, Senators Booker and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) introduced legislation to provide grants to low-income households in rural areas for installing and maintaining individually-owned decentralized wastewater systems. This legislation was included in the 2018 Farm Bill as an amendment to an existing USDA program, and the USDA Rural Decentralized Water Systems Program is now authorized to provide loans and grants of up to $15,000 to low-income households in rural areas for the construction, refurbishing, and servicing of individual household water well systems and individually-owned household decentralized wastewater systems.

“No American should go without access to basic sanitation,” said Senator Booker. “The Senate’s adoption of our bipartisan amendment will increase funding for decentralized wastewater systems, so we can better safeguard public health, protect the environment, and improve the quality of life for our most vulnerable communities.”

“The American people should have access to safe drinking water and sanitary waste disposal systems, regardless of where they live,” said Senator Tuberville. “Right now, many Alabamians in the Black Belt region do not have access to public sewer systems, and instead have to rely on septic tanks or decentralized systems to remove their waste. I am grateful that our bipartisan amendment was passed, since it will make funding available for more reliable, decentralized systems across our country.”

Specifically, Amendment 1175 increased the funding in Fiscal Year 2024 for the Rural Decentralized Water System program from $5 million to $20 million. The amendment also requires that at least $10 million of this funding be directed to low-income households as grants for decentralized wastewater systems.