Congressman Robert Garcia and Congressman Don Bacon Introduce the SEWER Act to Fund the CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Robert Garcia (CA-42) and Congressman Don Bacon (NE-02) introduced the Surveilling Effluent Water for Epidemic Response (SEWER) Act, which will fund the work of the CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System. The bill authorizes the program at $150 million for each of the next five fiscal years. To read the full bill text, click here.
“Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, while I served as Mayor of Long Beach, we were in the dark about the spread of illness in our community. We didn’t have test infrastructure to keep people safe. We have learned from that dark time, and will make sure that we’re not blind in the next crisis,” said Congressman Robert Garcia. “The SEWER Act will provide the necessary support to continue wastewater surveillance testing across the nation, tracking disease spikes by monitoring their presence in sewage. This way, we can directly target prevention efforts and keep our communities safe.”
“Detecting different diseases caused by pathogens shed by infected people is an early way to identify outbreaks early and help identify how diseases spread,” said Congressman Don Bacon. “I am pleased to join Rep. Garcia on this legislation to fund the National Wastewater Surveillance System for the next five years.”
“Wastewater surveillance is one of the quickest and most cost-effective methods for detecting the presence of an infectious disease in a community, which has been incredibly valuable for big city health departments. Wastewater surveillance has allowed for more effectively responding to public health emergencies, in some cases surging people and resources based on findings. BCHC strongly supports authorizing a permanent wastewater surveillance program at CDC as funding that supported it is ending,” said Chrissie Juliano, Executive Director, Big Cities Health Coalition.
“The American Society for Microbiology is pleased to support the SEWER Act. The National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) is a proven tool to efficiently detect and support state and local responses to outbreaks that endanger public health, and ASM strongly encourages Congress to authorize and fund this program,” said Amalia Corby, Director of Federal Affairs, American Society for Microbiology.
“I want to thank Representatives Garcia and Bacon for introducing the SEWER Act, which would reauthorize funding for the National Wastewater Surveillance System,” said Robert C. Ferrante, Chief Engineer and General Manager of the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. “Wastewater surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be an effective early warning system of surges in disease, making this program a timely and cost-effective tool for public health officials.”
“The Water Environment Federation supports this legislation, which fosters lasting partnerships between the water and public health sectors to the benefit of all Americans. It safeguards the progress made in establishing a cost-effective and adaptable wastewater-based public health surveillance infrastructure. WEF thanks Representative Garcia and Representative Bacon for their leadership on Congress protecting the public health of all Americans,” said Steve Dye, Senior Director of Government Affairs, Water Environment Federation
The CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) was first established during the COVID-19 pandemic to connect independent and local wastewater systems to create a sustainable national system. Wastewater surveillance tests and detects pathogens in sewage to track disease transmission in communities. This early-warning public health surveillance tool identifies outbreak trends to direct prevention efforts to the communities that could be affected. The CDC has used wastewater surveillance extensively for COVID-19, and has also utilized it to monitor the spread of MPOX, RSV, and most recently influenza A and B. Unusual increase in influenzas A was recently linked to the spread of H5N1 bird flu outbreaks in cattle herds. The SEWER Act will authorize $150 million for the NWSS for each of the next five fiscal years to continue the operation of the program.
Congressman Garcia lost both of his parents to COVID-19 and understands how important it is that we keep our communities healthy and safe. As Mayor of Long Beach, Congressman Garcia was on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, working with the city’s independent health department to protect lives. The city was hailed as a national model by President Biden and Governor Newsom. Under his leadership as mayor, Long Beach made PPE available to small businesses and conducted hundreds of thousands of free Covid-19 tests. Currently, he sits on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic where he has defended public health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci and worked to find sustainable solutions to protect our communities from future pandemics. Congressman Garcia also introduced the FLASH Act to cut through red tape to quickly buy critical medical materials during emergencies in future public health crises.
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