Why Oct. 16, 2024 matters for your drinking water

Roger McLassus

Lately, we drinking-water-policy-aficionados have been anxiously awaiting a very special day in October 2024. Specifically, October 16th, 2024, the deadline by which EPA's new drinking water rule, the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI), must be final or it will have to begin implementing the prior Administration's version of the rule. This will risk not only implementing a rule that the agency itself says needs to be improved, but it risks plunging the water utility sector into confusion as it juggles three different drinking water rules--each purporting to regulate dangerous lead pipes to varying degrees.

The reason for this alphabet-soup of regulations is that there is no safe level of lead and we know lead pipes leach. Having households across the country connect to water mains through a lead pipe make about as much sense as drinking through a lead straw. It is imperative that we get lead pipes out of the ground, or we risk continuing this needless public health crisis. The three regulations are the original Lead and Copper Rule (1991), the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (2021), and the proposed Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (2024).

This is how the rules relate to one another:

• Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) (proposed 2023, being considered for finalization by the White House) (strongest)
  • Among other necessary changes, would require most or all lead service lines to be replaced within 10 years
• Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) (finalized in 2021 with first compliance deadline on October 16, 2024) (weaker)
  • NRDC filed a lawsuit against the rule because it would allow, Another Generation of Children to Drink Tainted Water From Lead Pipes.
• The original 1991 Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) (needs improvement)
  • Would be overtaken by the LCRR if the LCRI is not finalized by October 16, 2024, and likely would remain largely in effect for the next few years if the LCRI is finalized
  • Regardless of whether the LCRR or the LCRI comes next, the LCR's pipe material inventory provisions will be updated.

As EPA observed, this mix of rules creates a risk of confusion and wasted resources if the new LCRI rule is not finished on time and the LCRR kicks in. Now, with the deadline approaching, let's take a closer look at what is at stake.

Ever since it was finalized, the LCRR has technically been the law of the land, but EPA allowed a standard period of three years before compliance is required. In the meantime, EPA made the wise decision to pursue the new, LCRI rulemaking because (in its own words) the LCRR left "significant opportunities to further improve upon it to achieve increased protection of communities from lead exposure through drinking water." The agency emphasized that the environmental injustices of lead in drinking water under the LCRR, calling out the need to "equitably improv[e] public health protection for all, regardless of their economic status, to avoid exacerbating existing health and economic inequalities."

In that same document, the agency expressed concern that the LCRR does not go far enough to prevent exposure in the first place, concluding also that more was needed to "compel actions sufficient to reduce the health risks in those communities [most at risk.]"

The biggest problem with the LCRR is that it would bring the crucial actual replacement of lead pipes to an excruciatingly slow pace. "EPA estimate[d] that the LCRR would result in replacements of only approximately five percent of [lead service lines] over a 35-year period." (EPA, 2021) That is a pittance compared with EPA's promised 10-year total replacement requirement of the newer LCRI. This is one of the biggest problems with the LCRR.

There are also many changes big and small that would simply be different if the LCRR and not the LCRI becomes the effective law of the land. For example, each of these rules relies on different sampling protocols. EPA expressed concern that developing sampling plans and implementing more than one of them would be a costly and confusing endeavor. To avoid creating unnecessary confusion and wasted resources, it is essential for EPA to finalize the LCRI by October 16.

The new LCRI improves upon the older versions of the rule significantly, with stronger health protections and faster removal of pipes. While it does not address everything on our wish list, it represents a huge gain for public health and the most significant leap forward in removing lead from our drinking water in more than a generation, which is why OMB must act now to finalize the rule.

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