Lead Pipe Lawsuit Raises Cost Questions as Trump Takes Office

A utility group’s lawsuit against the Biden administration’s new lead water pipe removal regulation raises legitimate questions about funding, an analyst said Wednesday as environmentalists criticize the challenge as a public health threat.

The American Water Works Association on Dec. 12 asked the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review the Biden administration’s Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) regulation, which mandates all lead drinking water pipes to be replaced by 2037.

Drinking water utilities don’t have enough funding to replace the pipes in that time, AWWA claimed.

The group is right ...