WASHINGTON, D.C. — The president’s commitment to accelerate efforts nationwide to protect families from lead contamination in their drinking water and homes underscores how the historic, bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will further efforts to address environmental injustices. The National Wildlife Federation heralded President Joe Biden’s commitment to leverage every tool across federal, state, and local government to address the lead problem, and pledged to work with him and his administration to implement this historical initiative.

“From Benton Harbor to Flint, we’ve seen how lead poisoning creates and perpetuates health and wealth inequities in Black and other frontline communities. Enough is enough, and the Biden Administration’s promise to leverage and build upon the bipartisan infrastructure law to address this environmental injustice is a step in the right direction — and will help children and families across the nation go from surviving to thriving — clean, affordable, and accessible drinking water must be a human right,” said Mustafa Santiago Ali, vice president for environmental justice, climate, and community revitalization at the National Wildlife Federation. “We will work with the president and his administration to ensure that these commitments deliver for frontline and fence-line communities — and that the Biden Administration builds on this important promise to address long-standing disparities in lead contamination.”

“Access to clean drinking water is essential for people and wildlife alike,” said Jessie Ritter, senior director for water resources and coastal policy at the National Wildlife Federation. “This commitment, including the dedicated resources from the president’s bipartisan infrastructure law, will help to ensure that every family — regardless of their ZIP code — does not have to worry about the safety of their tap water. We look forward to working with the president to support this initiative and all of its efforts to secure clean drinking water for people and wildlife.”