Federal, state and local officials gathered in Fall River, Mass., recently to celebrate a nearly $15 million investment in infrastructure projects, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced.
EPA Regional Administrator David W. Cash joined with U.S. Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), U.S. Congressman Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), and others on Dec. 9 to make the announcement. Projects funded by the investments, such as upgrading water infrastructures and buying electric school buses, "will directly improve public health for city residents," the agency states in the announcement.
"The amount and scope of the projects is thanks in large part to major investments made possible by the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)," the announcement states.
More than $10 million will be invested in locating and replacing public and private lead water pipes in Fall River, and the city is getting another $4 million in state funding for water-infrastructure improvement projects.
Fall River is also receiving a rebate worth up to $3,895,000 to compensate the purchase of 11 zero-emission school buses and charging infrastructure, the EPA reports. Massachusetts is also allocating $9.4 million for electric school buses and charging stations in communities across the state, the statement reports.
Cash said the "unprecedented funding" allows the EPA and its partners to make "critical, forward-leaning investments to upgrade infrastructure and protect people's health in Fall River," the EPA reports.
"These investments," Cash said in the announcement, "from replacing diesel school buses with clean, zero-emission vehicles, to modernizing water infrastructure and removing lead from drinking water pipes, will provide tangible health benefits to this community for decades to come."
"Today's announcement is evidence of EPA's efforts to prioritize actions to protect public health and address environmental impacts in communities who have historically been left out of the conversation and overburdened by pollution," Cash said. "I am proud of this collaborative effort and the progress that we are making."
