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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2025 - 2026
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 17, 2025 11:14 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Melissa Cerrato |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Maintenance of Private Lateral Lines and Municipal Water and Sewer Systems |
| Private lateral water and sewer lines connect houses or properties to the main lines of the water and sewer system. However, when lateral lines leak, have root intrusions, or allow rainwater to infiltrate, they can have a drastic impact on the water or sewer system. The maintenance and repair of these lines are costly, and unfortunately, these costs typically fall on homeowners. In Pennsylvania, municipal authorities are allowed to maintain private lateral water and sewer lines by using authority funds and workers to perform such maintenance, which can greatly reduce the burden of these costs and overall improve efficiency. Under current law, only municipal authorities can do this, while cities, boroughs, and townships are excluded from using funds or workers to maintain private lateral line systems owned by municipalities. This puts local municipalities at a disadvantage, and I believe we must update current law to give them the same powers to maintain private water lines as municipal authorities. That is why I will be reintroducing former House Bill 1903 to authorize municipalities to use public funds and workers to replace/repair private water or sewer laterals connected to public systems. Moreover, my legislation will require municipalities to utilize American-made materials when performing repairs on private lateral lines. With this legislation, the maintenance of these water and sewer systems will be more efficient, long-term costs will be lowered, American manufacturers will be supported, public health will be improved, and there will be an overall positive impact on all homeowners within the municipality. It is crucial that we allow systems that are owned by a city, borough, or township to perform this maintenance and make necessary improvements to their aging infrastructure. I hope that you will join me in co-sponsoring this legislation to help strengthen our municipally owned water and sewer systems. |
Introduced as HB388