House passes Cerrato bill to ensure safer water/sewer systems in Pa.
Rep. Melissa Cerrato June 23, 2025 | 4:04 PM
HARRISBURG, June 23 – The state House today passed legislation introduced by Rep. Melissa Cerrato, D-Montgomery, that would allow all local governments in the state to use public funds and workers to replace or repair private water or sewer laterals connected to public systems.
Under House Bill 1048, local governments may take this action if they determine that replacement or repair will be beneficial for public health or public water or sewer systems. Before performing such actions, they must consider the availability of public money, equipment, municipal employees, and facilities and the competing demands for these resources.
“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 as a whole,” Cerrato said. “The maintenance and repair of these lines are costly and, unfortunately, these costs typically fall on homeowners, who may not have the resources to do the job.”
Under current law, only municipal authorities are authorized to do this, while cities, boroughs and townships are excluded from using funds or workers to maintain private lateral line systems owned by municipalities.
“Current law puts local municipalities at a disadvantage, and I believe we must update it to give them the same powers to maintain private water lines as municipal authorities,” Cerrato said. “It is crucial that we allow all local governments to perform this maintenance and make necessary improvements to the entire system, to ensure public health and to ensure they can keep up with the aging infrastructure of their systems.”
The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.