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 to highlight the financial pressures water utilities face in replacing pipes and meeting the Environmental Protection Agency’s requirements to filter out per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from drinking water, said Erica Walker, national lead and copper rule practice leader at the consultancy Arcadis.

“Both regulations are underfunded mandates rather than unfunded mandates as Congress and EPA made significant investments in reducing these public health risks,” she said.

After taking office, the second Trump administration will have the ability to review and rescind the LCRI, Walker said.

“We need clearly crafted policies, regulators to help water systems through the process, and adequate funding to meet the mandates EPA has set out,” she said.

It’s uncertain how and if the litigation will proceed because AWWA’s lawsuit was filed about a month before the second Trump administration takes office, said Ann Mesnikoff, federal legislative director for the Environmental Law and Policy Center in Washington.

The first Trump administration finalized a rule that slowed the pace of lead pipe replacement to about 3% per year. Several groups and states asked the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review the Trump rule in 2021, but in New York v. EPA, the court held the consolidated cases in abeyance while the Biden administration completed its own rulemaking on lead pipes.

The Biden administration’s rule was finalized in October and mandates a 10% annual replacement rate beginning in 2027.

The latest lawsuit is challenging a rule that aims to protect children’s health that was partially funded with appropriations in the bipartisan infrastructure law, Mesnikoff said.

Suzanne Novak, an attorney for the environmental law firm Earthjustice, said the LCRI has “immense public support” and that provides ample time for utilities to replace lead drinking water pipes.

“Utilities are putting their interests above public health,” hurting low-income and marginalized communities that face the most risk from lead pipes, Novak said.

The case is American Water Works Ass’n v. EPA, D.C. Cir., No. 24-1376, 12/12/24.