EPA Finalizes Mass Lead Drinking Water Pipe Replacement Plan (1)

Most drinking water systems have until 2037 to replace all their lead water pipes under a final rule published Tuesday.

The Environmental Protection Agency finalized its Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, or LCRI, regulation that replaces a Trump-era rule and increases the pace of lead service line replacement from about 3% annually to 10% annually over 10 years beginning in 2027. The EPA estimates that up to 9 million lead pipes still serve homes nationwide.

The effort to find and replace lead pipes has been a key issue for policymakers. A senior White House official said Monday that President Joe Biden believes that clean water and keeping kids safe from lead poisoning should be a bipartisan priority. Biden is expected to highlight the final rule during a visit to Milwaukee on Tuesday.

The $15 billion for lead service line replacement allocated by Congress in the 2021 infrastructure law will help fund the pipe replacements mandated by the proposed rule, according to the EPA. Funds from the agency’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, which provides grants and loans for water system improvements, can also be used.

Water systems have three years to begin replacing lead service lines at a rate of 10% annually. An Oct. 16 deadline for drinking water systems to inventory their lead pipes remains in place under the existing Trump-era rule.

But many water systems may be allowed to take longer than 10 years to replace their lead pipes with state approval. The new rule allows water systems that would have to annually replace more than 39 lead service lines per 1,000 service connections to qualify for an extension of the 10-year replacement deadline, possibly allowing some lead pipes to remain in place beyond 2037.

In each case, the state will evaluate each water system’s slower pipe replacement rate every three years to determine if the system could replace the pipes faster. The new rule says the deferred deadlines will apply only to a “small percentage” of water systems nationwide.

The EPA said its approach to the deadline ensures that pipe replacement requirements “do not overburden” state regulators.

The final rule requires water systems to pressure homeowners to allow them to replace privately owned lead pipes between a home’s water meter and the house’s interior plumbing, White House officials said Monday.

The rule also will lower the amount of lead found in a drinking water system’s treated water that would trigger a requirement for the utility to notify residents and to provide them with filters that will remove the lead. Known as the “lead action level,” the requirement would be triggered at 0.010 milligrams of lead per liter, down from the current 0.015 mg per liter.

The LCRI is widely expected to be challenged in court and, due to the proximity of its finalization to the election, could be subject to the Congressional Review Act.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said Monday that no lead level in drinking water is safe. Lead can cause cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease, and decreased kidney function in adults while impairing mental and physical development in children.

Lead contamination from water pipes occurs when the water’s chemical composition and pH change. Drinking water in Flint, Mich., was contaminated after the city switched its water source, causing lead pipes to corrode, for example.

The final rule calls for drinking water systems to more frequently communicate with residents about the utility’s plans to replace lead service lines.

After water systems complete their lead pipe inventories this month, the new rule is expected to require them to regularly update those inventories, create a plan to replace the pipes, and track the materials used to manufacture them.