About UCANE

Utility Contractors’ Association of New England, Inc. (UCANE) is a trade association comprised of over 250 major contractors and associated businessmen and women who design, build, finance, insure, bond, and supply materials and equipment to the underground water and sewer construction industry. Our membership is engaged in heavy, highway, building and utility construction throughout Massachusetts, New England and the United States. UCANE’s members have performed thousands of contracts for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and its’ cities and towns.

Formed in 1954 (54years), and representing both union and non-union companies, WBE and DBE enterprises, UCANE is dedicated to pursuing underground water and sewer utility legislation, and monitoring programs to assure jobs are out on the street promptly. UCANE lobbies on both state and federal levels on behalf of New England’s critical clean water and drinking water issues.

On the state level, over the past five 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.

In addition, we have had success in both Lowell and Worcester in overturning residency requirements, and legislation to implement interest on retainage for public construction contracts has passed favorably.

On the federal level, UCANE 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 Program (SRF), the Clean Water Act has recently received bipartisan support for reenactment.

Clean drinking water and appropriate wastewater channeling are critically important to the health and welfare of our citizens and also to the economic viability and financial stability of the Commonwealth. To help ensure the funding of these critical needs, the SRF requires an infusion of funds to meet the needs of cities and towns to install modern water and sewer systems.

A plentiful supply of clean drinking water for every citizen and a wastewater pipeline/treatment system should be one of the top priorities of every administration. Clean water and pollution free waterways should be a bi-partisan statewide goal…because having these systems in place draws new industry, and allows expansion of in-state companies…and with this comes high paying jobs, more tax revenue and the ability of the state to fund necessary social programs. At the present time, more and more cities and towns are under pressure to limit growth and business expansions by implementing restrictive water and sewer policies that will ultimately decrease our standard of living…especially that of our children and grandchildren.

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.

Tel: (617) 471-9955 • Fax: (617) 471-8939 • 300 Congress Street, Suite 101 • Quincy, MA 02169