EPA Defends Delay of Trump-Era Lead and Copper Rule for Water

The Environmental Protection Agency’s nine month delay of the Trump administration’s revised drinking water regulations for lead and copper didn’t harm Arizona, Louisiana, and three other states, and the decision was reasonable, the agency told the D.C. Circuit.

The states’ argument against the delay “is, at heart, a disagreement with EPA’s policy judgment,” according to the brief in the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. And a disagreement “cannot justify striking down the rule,” the agency told the court Tuesday.

The original drinking water rule was issued to reduce lead contamination in tap water. Trump administration officials issued ...