{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://trahan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3849", "Trahan Secures $180 Million Authorization for MA-03 Sewage System Upgrades", "2026-09-17", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Lori Trahan", "T000482", "trahan.house.gov", "trahan", "https://trahan.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "Yesterday, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) voted to advance the bipartisan 2026 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), reauthorizing federal investments in water infrastructure projects across the country and in Massachusetts. The legislation authorized $180 million in federal funding for communities in the Third District, including $90 million split equally among Fitchburg, Lawrence, and Methuen, plus $90 million for Lowell and Haverhill.\n\nCompared to 2024 funding levels, this legislation would increase Lowell\u2019s authorization from $30 million to $40 million and Haverhill\u2019s from $30 million to $50 million. The additional funding could help address Haverhill\u2019s combined sewer system challenges in the wake of this summer\u2019s main sewer failure.\n\n\u201cFor too long, Washington has passed the buck on costly water upgrades to communities like ours that can't afford them. The result is decades of delay while sewage spills into our rivers every heavy storm. Families deserve better,\u201d said Congresswoman Trahan. \u201cThis authorization puts real support within reach for our gateway cities. I look forward to partnering with our local, state, and federal leaders to turn this authorization into real dollars for our communities.\u201d\n\nReauthorized by Congress every two years, the Water Resources Development Act provides an opportunity to ensure federal investments in local water infrastructure and development projects reflect the needs of communities. Lowell alone has invested over $150 million in CSO projects that have reduced the annual volume of overflows from the Lowell system and drastically reduced street flooding.\n\nMany older cities, including communities across Massachusetts, were built with combined sewer systems. During heavy rain or snowmelt, these systems can become overwhelmed, causing untreated wastewater and stormwater to flow directly into rivers and other waterways. These combined sewer overflows (CSOs) are a major source of water pollution in cities with aging water infrastructure.\n\nFollowing July\u2019s main sewer line failure in Haverhill, Trahan partnered with Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to introduce the Water Emergency and Technical Assistance Act to authorize emergency assistance and grants during clean water and drinking water infrastructure crises. The legislation would create a new emergency grant program under the Clean Water Act, funded at $50 million annually, to help communities respond immediately to failures in their wastewater systems, including combined sewer overflows and other critical system failures that threaten public health.\n\nSince arriving in Congress in 2019, Trahan has successfully fought to increase WRDA funding for MA-03 and address combined sewer overflow (CSO) problems in the district. In 2022, Trahan secured over $100 million in WRDA investments for the district. This year\u2019s WRDA increases on previous authorization to reflect the current needs of cities and towns in MA-03.\n\nThe 2026 WRDA now moves to the Senate. Once law, the community authorizations will be eligible for funding through the appropriations process.\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-18T09:27:43Z", "2026-09-18T09:29:09Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://trahan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3849"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6527900006622076, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}