The $15 billion designated for lead service line replacements in the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill is woefully short of what is needed to address the problem, say several industry officials familiar with drinking water issues. The White House initially proposed $45 billion for lead line replacements but Senate negotiators, concerned about the bill’s swelling price tag, trimmed that amount to $15 billion.

The package, which passed the Senate on Aug. 10, now moves to the House, where it faces significant hurdles. Some progressive Democrats have called for a more expansive bill, while more moderate Democrats have challenged the bill’s heft.

同时，一些团体（从工会到环境拥护者）感到失望，参议院法案并没有为铅管置换提供更多资金。

Tommy Holmes, legislative director for the American Water Works Association, says the amount in the Senate bill is a “down payment” for a much larger undertaking. “I’ve said all along that we are grateful for any additional funding that Congress can provide to address lead service lines," he says. "Everybody just needs to understand what the actual price tag will be.”

Most current estimates say it would take upward of $60 billion to replace from 6 million to 10 million lead service lines estimated in systems across the country.

Amrou Atassi, a vice president and senior project manager at CDM Smith, who is helping the city of Chicago with a lead service line replacement program, says, “Almost every community and city I have talked to that is serious about lead service line replacement is very eager to find out what is going to happen.”

Atassi says other funding mechanisms exist. The US Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, the US Dept, of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grants and the federal Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act all include funds for lead service line replacements, to varying degrees. But much of the funding is in the form of loans, not grants.

Atassi说，一些水公用事业正在搁置铅替换计划，直到他们发现基础设施包中的最终数字将是什么。

The money in the current bill would likely be allocated through state drinking water revolving loan fund programs with some level of loan forgiveness.

On Aug. 11, the Senate narrowly approved the separate reconciliation measure’s first stage—a $3.5-trillion budget resolution that sets overall funding targets for each committee. Next will come detailed legislation fleshing out the budget framework.

众议院议长南希·佩洛西（Nancy Pelosi）（D-Calif。）表示，当立法者于8月23日从其休会中返回时，她想通过预算解决方案，她正在与规则委员会合作，能够共同提出这两个法案。