EPA Orders Lead Pipes Nationwide to be Removed

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency released the Lead and Copper Improvements Rule that requires nearly every lead water pipe in the nation to be removed within the next ten years, a monumental victory for public health and our children. There is no safe level of lead.

"Lead-contaminated tap water has harmed the health and welfare of generations of our children. EPA's action today is a leap forward in protecting the health of tens of millions of Americans from this scourge," said Erik D. Olson, senior strategic director for health at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council.) "It's been ten years since Flint's water crisis jolted the nation into realizing that lead contamination is lurking in the tap water across America. It's because of the tireless work of community leaders in Flint, Newark and beyond that we got today's strong standards."

The new EPA rule, the first significant new protections on lead in our water in more than three decades, requires water utilities and cities to replace almost all lead pipes within a decade, as well as establishing better lead testing requirements and mandating a complete inventory of lead water pipes. The EPA is also lowering the action level for lead contamination to 10 parts per billion (ppb) from 15 ppb, which will improve water treatment.

More than nine million homes receive drinking water through a lead pipe. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated $15 billion for lead pipe removal. These new rules from EPA ensure states and cities follow through and get those toxic pipes out of the ground. EPA agreed to set these new lead standards after NRDC and its partners sued over the inadequacy of rules the agency put in place in 2020.

"Ten years ago, the drinking water in my hometown of Flint, Michigan was contaminated by lead because there were no strong state or federal laws and no enforcement to protect our water or our people. My community has pushed to reform the federal lead rule so the water crisis that damaged Flint would not happen to any other city or town. Today's announcement is not perfect, but it's a big step in the right direction," said Melissa Mays, Operations Manager of Flint Rising.

"Finally, EPA is starting to tackle the legacy of lead in water contamination that plagues environmental justice communities across the nation," said Yvette Jordan, Chair of the Newark Education Workers Caucus. "Everyone, no matter what their zip code, income, or color has a right to safe drinking water. This new rule is one step that begins to move us toward a day when we can all turn on our kitchen taps and feel confident that we're not getting poisoned by lead."

Background

Black, Latino, and low-income neighborhoods are far more likely to receive water through a lead pipe. A 2023 NRDC study, based upon a scientific paper published by Harvard scientists, found that the health and economic benefits of removing lead pipes exceed the costs by 14- to 17-fold.

While these final standards are a significant improvement over the status quo, the rules from the previous administration and what EPA proposed earlier this year, some gaps remain. This includes a failure to require water utilities to pay for full lead pipe replacement. This is critical to avoiding the environmental injustices that result when utilities charge individual homeowners thousands of dollars to remove the lead pipes, leaving lower-income and disproportionately homeowners and renters of color continuing to drink lead. In addition, there are only weak improvements to public education about the risk of lead contamination and ineffective measures for drinking water in schools and childcare centers.

Some of these gaps resulted from EPA's view that it lacked legal authority to go further than the rule did. Advocates will press EPA, state and local authorities, utilities, and Congress, to address some of the gaps in the final rule.

Safer water is within reach, but one major obstacle to removing lead from drinking water may be opposition from water utilities that are poised to file lawsuits to block or delay the EPA's new rule. Many states and water utilities have failed to follow the 1991 EPA Lead and Copper Rule that required utilities with elevated lead levels to complete a survey of all of the lead pipes in their systems. Literally thousands of water systems have exceeded the lead action level since 1991, so they all should have identified their lead service lines years ago. Regrettably, this requirement apparently was not enforced, and several water systems have never identified where they have lead service lines. Under the new rule, however, all utilities will be required to complete an inventory of all of their lead and other pipes.

The health case against lead exposure or ingestion through paint or water is incontrovertible: While it's toxic to everyone, fetuses, infants, and young children are at the greatest risk for lead poisoning because their brains and bodies are rapidly developing and more easily absorb lead than do those of older children and adults. Low levels of exposure can interfere with thought processes and lower children's IQ and also cause attention and behavioral problems-all of which affect lifetime learning. Adults are also at risk, particularly from cardiovascular disease due to lead exposure. Other health effects include hearing loss, anemia, hypertension, kidney impairment, immune system dysfunction, and toxicity to the reproductive organs.

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).

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