The Biden administration is issuing a final rule requiring the replacement of lead pipes within the next 10 years, fulfilling a priority for the outgoing president.
President Joe Biden was set to travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin , on Tuesday to announce that the Environmental Protection Agency would issue the rule, also known as the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements.
The rule is the first national requirement to replace all lead service lines in U.S. history. It is meant to decrease the serious health problems caused by exposure to lead dramatically. The EPA estimates that up to 9 million homes are still served by lead pipes nationwide.
Under the rule, drinking water systems nationwide, including in homes and public schools, are required to replace any lead service lines within 10 years.
The EPA has estimated that the mass-lead pipe replacements will protect upward of 900,000 infants from low birth weight, reduce up to 1,500 cases of premature death from heart disease, prevent up to 200,000 IQ points lost in children, and help close the water equity gap.
On Tuesday, the EPA also announced $2.6 billion in funding for newly available drinking water infrastructure. The funding is expected to support projects replacing lead pipes and keeping inventory. Around 49% is also set to be provided to disadvantaged communities as “grant funding or principal forgiveness," according to the administration.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan has also touted economic benefits from the rule, telling reporters that for every $1 billion invested in water infrastructure, the administration is able to create roughly 15,500 jobs.
“We’ve known for decades that lead exposure has serious long-term impacts for children’s health. And yet, millions of lead service lines are still delivering drinking water to homes,” Regan said. “President Biden is putting an end to this generational public health problem. With the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements and historic investments in lead pipe replacement, the Biden-Harris Administration is fulfilling its commitment that no community, regardless of race, geography, or wealth, should have to worry about lead-contaminated water in their homes.”
To determine the location of lead pipe systems, the administration previously set a deadline of Oct. 16, 2022, for water systems across the country to report lead pipes to the EPA.
Some communities, including Wisconsin, have already begun replacing lead water pipes. After receiving around $30 million through funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the administration revealed that Milwaukee Water Works is on track to replace 3,400 lead pipelines. Similarly, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is set to replace over 8,000 lead pipelines via $90 million in funding.
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The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law earmarked around $50 billion in funds to upgrade drinking water infrastructure in the United States, including $15 billion dedicated solely to replacing lead service lines.
The administration, and particularly the EPA, has faced criticism for issuing similar wide-spanning rules in recent years, even facing blowback from the Supreme Court. However, senior administration officials said they are confident that ending lead poisoning should be a bipartisan priority going into the November election.
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