Industry group praises Water Quality Accountability Act

Utility and Transportation Contractors Association director of government affairs Zoe Baldwin on Thursday praised the state’s water quality protection law, but said it needed further expansion to

“This hearing, and the WQAA specifically, are the state’s critical next steps toward tangible reform as they address the underlying issue: governance and planning,” Baldwin told the Senate Community Urban Affairs Committee. “In the face of this continuing crisis, we need to make sure that state government has the regulatory tools it needs to ensure that the 500-or-so regulated drinking water systems are properly maintaining, upgrading, and replacing their pipes – including lead service lines.”

The hearing centered around the Water Quality Accountability Act, which requires, among other things, routine testing of water valves and hydrants and the creation of asset management plans for the state’s water infrastructure systems.