For Immediate Release: Lead and Copper Rule Revisions Go into Effect Alongside Improvements; Policy Reform and Innovation Still Needed

MEDIA CONTACT: Maureen Cunningham, Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), maureen@policyinnovation.org, 518-469-4748

For Immediate Release: December 16, 2021

Washington, DC — Today, the US EPA announced that the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions will go into effect, starting the clock on a three-year compliance schedule for water systems across the country. EPIC issued the following statement regarding the EPA announcement:

“After a year of waiting - and 30 years since the first rule was published - we are pleased to see the EPA strengthening its regulations for removing toxic lead from our drinking water,” said Maureen Cunningham, Director of Water Strategy at the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC). “The good news is that EPA simultaneously put the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions into effect while working to improve them to speed up the replacement of 100 percent of the nation’s lead pipes, as the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) proposed earlier in the year to avoid further delays. This step forward - combined with an epic amount of funding from the federal government and a renewed focus on equity and innovation - will help every community in the nation replace lead pipes quickly.” 

EPIC has outlined several next steps to ensure that the replacement of 100 percent of lead pipes in this country is prioritized through additional policy improvements and innovative strategies. In our recent publication, EPIC and our partners outlined several contracting and procurement reforms such as the use of third-party contracts and alternative financing and impact bonds to ensure lead pipe replacement happens faster. The Baltimore Sun, American City & County, and Water Online recently ran op-eds from EPIC staff on what we view as faster approaches to removing toxic lead out of drinking water, including ensuring as much of the funding from the federal bipartisan infrastructure law as possible goes to replacement efforts. EPIC has also advocated for targeted technical assistance to under-resourced and underserved communities to better access federal funding and for equity to be addressed through key reforms to the State Revolving Fund (SRF) program.

This is the first time the rule has been updated in three decades, and includes various revisions to the initial 1991 Lead and Copper Rule that will protect public health - including requiring all water systems to develop a lead service line inventory or demonstrate the absence of lead pipes, and if they do have lead pipes, requiring them to update their inventory annually and develop a replacement plan. Other revisions from the 1991 rule include adding a trigger level of 10 parts per billion as well as changes to tap monitoring, corrosion control treatment, public education and outreach, source water monitoring, primacy agency reporting, and separate testing and education to address lead in drinking water at schools and child care facilities. 

The US EPA announced that while the revisions will go into effect, it will launch a new proposed rule - the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements - to strengthen key elements prior to the initial compliance date of October 16, 2024. This action is what the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) urged EPA to do earlier this year, to avoid the delays that would have come had the EPA restarted the rulemaking process. Some of the improvements EPA will focus on, based on a review it undertook through a series of public engagement events in 2021, include a focus on replacing all lead service lines, strengthening tap sampling requirements, addressing the confusion around action and trigger levels, and prioritizing historically underserved communities. The announcement is part of a larger Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan announced by the White House today.

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About the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC): The Environmental Policy Innovation Center builds policies that deliver spectacular improvement in the speed and scale of environmental progress. A nonprofit start-up, EPIC is committed to finding and highlighting the best approaches to scaling up results quickly. EPIC focuses on clean water, endangered species, environmental markets, and the use of data and technology to produce positive environmental and public health outcomes. Equity and justice are at the center of EPIC’s approach, as we work on policies related to the accessibility of safe, affordable water, the right to clean water, as well as eliminating disparities in funding and environmental services faced by underserved and under-resourced communities. We have several programs and initiatives related to lead in drinking water: providing municipalities with technical assistance through our Lead-Free Water Challenge; spurring innovation and new ideas for addressing lead in drinking water through our Water Data Prize; and addressing disparities across water systems through state policy reforms and technical assistance to under-resourced communities.