Sponsors (3)
The bill provides modest, multi-year federal funding to expand wastewater surveillance and improve outbreak detection and coordinated response, at the tradeoff of modest taxpayer cost, potential community privacy concerns, and possible operational burdens on local utilities.
Local and state public-health authorities and hospitals can detect and monitor outbreaks (e.g., COVID-19, influenza, mpox) earlier through expanded wastewater surveillance, enabling faster situational awareness and response.
State and local surveillance programs and laboratories receive predictable federal support—$150 million per year from 2026–2030—so capacity can be built and maintained over time.
Federal, state, and local agencies can coordinate wastewater monitoring data to better target public-health responses and allocate resources during outbreaks.
Residents and communities could face increased privacy and community-trust concerns if how surveillance data are used and protected is not clearly specified.
Taxpayers fund the program—$150 million per year for five years—raising federal spending that may require budget tradeoffs elsewhere.
Local governments and wastewater service providers may face operational burdens from voluntary sampling requests (staff time, logistics), even though participation isn't federally mandated.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expands and funds CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System to monitor multiple pathogens, authorizing $150M per year for FY2026–FY2030.
Official title: To amend the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary to award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to eligible entities to establish, maintain, or improve activities related to the detection and monitoring of infectious diseases through wastewater for public health emergency preparedness and response purposes, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 28, 2025 by Robert Garcia · Last progress January 28, 2025
Creates and funds a national wastewater pathogen surveillance program by expanding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS). It directs the HHS Secretary, through the CDC Director and in coordination with federal, state, and local partners, to expand, intensify, and coordinate monitoring of wastewater for multiple pathogens and authorizes $150 million per year for fiscal years 2026–2030. The law clarifies that wastewater utilities and service providers are not required to comply with surveillance requests and makes the funding available until expended to support detection, monitoring, and coordination activities for pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, influenza, mpox, dengue, West Nile virus, and RSV.