Chicago, IL (October 8, 2024) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule today requiring that water utilities across the country replace harmful lead pipes. The Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) address the widespread use of dangerous lead pipes for American drinking water and take decisive action by requiring replacement of lead service lines, after past rules left too much harmful lead in place. The Great Lakes region contains by far the greatest number of lead service lines of any region in the country, so has borne an especially heavy burden from this toxic legacy that still endures. The region thus stands to enjoy billions of dollars in health and economic benefits from replacement of lead service lines.
The final rule, announced by President Joe Biden today in Wisconsin, will require drinking water systems nationwide to replace lead service lines within 10 years, with limited exceptions for water systems with the most lead lines, such as Cleveland and Chicago. Under one alternative that the EPA proposed, Chicago would have gotten as long as 50 years to replace its lead service lines. The final rule announced today substantially shortens the exceptions for systems like Chicago and Cleveland, responding to the call from the Alliance for the Great Lakes and other advocates that the rule must not leave vulnerable residents behind for decades more. The rule also requires more rigorous testing of drinking water and strengthens the threshold requiring communities to take action to protect people from lead exposure in water.
While the announcement also highlights that EPA is investing an additional $2.6 billion for drinking water upgrades and lead pipe replacements, funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, billions more in federal funding will be needed to get the job done.
“Addressing lead service lines once and for all will bring huge benefits to the region by reducing negative impacts to childhood development and improving cardiac health, while creating thousands of jobs to get the lead out. President Biden and the EPA should be commended for this final rule,” said Meleah Geertsma, Director of Clean Water and Equity at the Alliance for the Great Lakes. “Now it’s up to Congress to provide the necessary funding to remove lead pipes once and for all, and water systems and states to ensure that community members most vulnerable to lead in drinking water are first in line to get their lead pipes replaced.”
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Contact: Don Carr, Media Director, Alliance for the Great Lakes dcarr@greatlakes.org