ndiana will get more than $127 million from the federal government to improve its drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. The funding comes from the roughly $50 billion in water and sewer funding in the recent bipartisan infrastructure law.
Most of the money will go to the state’s revolving funds — handled by the Indiana Finance Authority.
READ MORE: Indiana gets federal money to reduce lead in drinking water
In a letter to Gov. Eric Holcomb, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan said the funding should primarily be used to replace lead pipes in drinking water and clean up PFAS contamination.
The EPA also "strongly urged" Indiana to target most of the funding toward historically disadvantaged communities — lower-income and Black, Indigenous and other communities of color. Regan said these communities have often been disproportionately affected by drinking water pollution but unable to access loans and grants to improve their water systems.
Indiana’s plans to use the funding will have to be approved by the EPA.
Contact reporter Rebecca at rthiele@iu.edu or follow her on Twitter at @beckythiele.
Indiana Environmental reporting is supported by the Environmental Resilience Institute, an Indiana University Grand Challenge project developing Indiana-specific projections and informed responses to problems of environmental change.