About
UCANE
The Utility Contractors' Association of New England, Inc.
(UCANE) is a trade association comprised of over 250 major
contractors and associated business men and women who design,
build, finance, insure, bond, and supply materials and equipment
to the underground water and sewer construction industry.
Our membership is representative of the overall underground
utility construction industry with businesses ranging from
large to small family owned companies. We represent both union
and non-union companies as well as minority and women business
enterprises.
For over 50 years, UCANE has been the voice of New England's
underground water and sewer utility contractors and lobbies
on both the state and federal levels on behalf of this region's
critical clean water and drinking water issues.
On the federal level, UCANE, under the umbrella of the National
Utility Contractors' Association based in Washington D.C.,
successfully supported the passage of the Nation's first true
environmental program, the Clean Water Act of 1974. For the
past 25 years, this act through the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) construction grants program distributed nearly
$100 billion to assist states in modernizing their water treatment
and sewer distribution systems. While replaced in the early
1990's by the State Revolving Loan Fund Programs (SRF), the
Clean Water Act has recently received bipartisan support for
reenactment.
UCANE, along with other major environmental, utility, construction,
and grass roots organizations and with the support of the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is intensely lobbying
for the return of government leadership and the infusion of
federal funds to rebuild our country's decaying underground
infrastructure.
On the state level, over the past four decades, UCANE successfully
lobbied legislators to fund improvements to underground water
and utility systems through the issuance of state bonds. UCANE
was also instrumental in establishing the Massachusetts Water
Resources Authority (MWRA) to oversee the clean up of Boston
Harbor and the modernization of water and sewer systems in
the nearly 60 cities and towns in the greater Boston area.
Today, UCANE's main effort is directed towards procuring
full funding of the State Revolving Loan Fund (SRF) and rescheduling
the construction of hundreds of local water and sewer projects
that have been delayed or postponed indefinitely because of
the lack of funding. UCANE educates our residents, business
leaders, and elected officials about our region's need for
modern clean water and drinking water distribution systems
through our monthly publication CONSTRUCTION OUTLOOK magazine,
our newsletters, and our seminars.
Our Association retains a fulltime lobbyist who keeps our
members informed of all legislation affecting our industry
while assuring that our industry's positions on water and
sewer issues are heard.
The Utility Contractors' Association of New England, Inc.
takes great pride in the knowledge and expertise of its members,
and is widely recognized for its professionalism, fairness,
and ability to get problems solved.
Because of their concerns for clean water issues, UCANE members
have been called on many times to provide expert testimony
before state and federal legislative committees on water and
sewer issues. |
Scholarship Information