Prompted by the drinking water crisis in Flint 10 years ago, the U.S. EPA announced on October 8 a 10-year deadline for replacement of all lead service lines in the U.S. This important project will be largely funded by more than $15 billion from the 2021 federal bipartisan infrastructure law.
EPA’s final Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) reverses a policy of the Trump Administration, which did not mandate all lead service lines be replaced. The new rule mandates that when a water system has access to conduct a full replacement of lead pipes or pipes designated as “galvanized requiring replacement” (GRR), it is considered to have control over the service line and must replace it under the LCRI. This can include lead service lines on a homeowner’s property.
The rule applies to community water systems and some non-community water systems across the U.S. that have lead or GRR service lines. A community water system is one that serves at least 15 service connections used by year-round residents, or regularly serves at least 25 year-round residents, such as public water authorities and private water companies.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) says approximately 331,000 service lines across the state are known or likely to contain lead – roughly 12% of the total service lines in Michigan community water supplies. An additional approximately 314,000 service lines are of unknown material.
Young children, infants, and fetuses are particularly vulnerable to lead in drinking water. In children, low levels of exposure have been linked to damage to the central and peripheral nervous system, learning disabilities, shorter stature, impaired hearing, and impaired formation and function of blood cells.
“The science has been clear for decades: There is no safe level of lead in our drinking water,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said.
President Joe Biden announced the final rule: “For too long, local communities have known how important it was to deal with this problem,” Biden said. “It hadn’t been given the national priority it demanded, though.”
About 367,000 lead lines have been replaced across the U.S., but more than 9 million water service lines still use lead pipes. The EPA has distributed $9 billion in total funding, which is expected to replace up to 1.7 million lead pipes nationwide.
Also on October 8, EPA announced $56.8 million in newly available drinking water infrastructure funding for Michigan through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This funding will flow through the drinking water state revolving funds (DWSRFs) and is available to support lead pipe replacement and inventory projects.
