Strict new rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could require most U.S. cities to replace their lead water pipes within 10 years. This move by the Biden administration aims to reduce lead in drinking water and prevent public health crises similar to those in Flint, Michigan and Washington, D.C.

The EPA estimates that millions of people consume drinking water from lead pipes, and implementing tighter standards would not only improve IQ scores in children but also reduce high blood pressure and heart disease in adults. This marks the strongest overhaul of lead rules in over three decades and will come at a significant cost, amounting to billions of dollars. However, the practical and financial challenges associated with this endeavor are substantial.

"These improvements ensure that in a not too distant future, there will never be another city and another child poisoned by their pipes," stated Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician and clean water advocate.

In April, an EPA report revealed that there are currently over 9 million lead service lines in use throughout the nation. These lines are known to be a "significant source" of lead contamination in the drinking water supplied to homes.

The Biden administration has previously said it wants all of the nation's roughly 9 million lead pipes to be removed, and rapidly. Lead pipes connect water mains in the street to homes and are typically the biggest source of lead in drinking water. They are most common in older, industrial parts of the country.

Lead crises have hit poorer, majority-Black cities like Flint especially hard, propelling the risks of lead in drinking water into the national consciousness. Their impact reaches beyond public health. After the crises, tap water use declined nationally, especially among Black and Hispanic people. The Biden administration says investment is vital to fix this injustice and ensure everyone has safe, lead-free drinking water.

"We're trying to right a longstanding wrong here," said Radhika Fox, head of the EPA Office of Water. "We're bending the arc towards equity and justice on this legacy issue."

The proposal, called the lead and copper rule improvements, would for the first time require utilities to replace lead pipes even if their lead levels aren't too high. Most cities have not been forced to replace their lead pipes and many don't even know where they are. Some cities with a lot of lead pipes might be given longer deadlines, the agency said.

The push to reduce lead in tap water is part of a broader federal effort to combat lead exposure that includes proposed stricter limits on dust from lead-based paint in older homes and child-care facilities and a goal to eliminate lead in aviation fuel.

"Tens of millions of people being exposed"

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) implemented the first comprehensive lead in drinking water regulations in 1991. While these regulations have helped reduce lead levels, experts argue that they still contain loopholes that allow lead levels to remain too high. Additionally, lax enforcement enables cities to ignore the problem.

Erik Olson, an expert with the Natural Resources Defense Council who challenged the original regulations in the 1990s, explained, "We now know that having literally tens of millions of people being exposed to low levels of lead from things like their drinking water has a big impact on the population. The current lead rules don't fix it. We're hoping this new rule will have a big impact."

The EPA also announced its intention to lower the level of lead at which utilities are required to take action. Furthermore, federal officials are urging cities to improve their communication with the public when elevated lead levels are detected.

Another proposed change involves how lead is measured. Utilities would be required to collect more samples, which could lead to significant consequences. When Michigan implemented a similar measure, the number of communities flagged for having high lead levels skyrocketed.

The public will have an opportunity to comment on the proposal, and the EPA expects to publish the final version of the rule in the Fall of 2024. Following publication, there will be a waiting period before the rule goes into effect.

Lead Contamination in Drinking Water

Lead contamination in drinking water is a serious concern as it seeps into water that has already left the treatment plant. Unlike other contaminants, lead requires the addition of chemicals to prevent it from leaching out of pipes and plumbing fixtures. This process is challenging, as one home can have dangerous lead levels while the house next door has no lead exposure at all.

Unfortunately, the cost of replacing lead pipes is often too expensive for many people to afford. Therefore, the decision to pay for the full cost of replacement lies with the utilities.

"We strongly, strongly encourage water utilities to pay for it," stated a representative from an advocacy group.

The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, which represents large public water utilities, acknowledges the difficulties in securing homeowner permission for the replacement work and handling the rising costs.

In response to the issue, President Donald Trump's administration issued new standards just before the end of his term. These standards require utilities to take stronger action when lead levels become too high and to test day-care centers and schools. Additionally, communities are now required to locate their lead pipes, with initial inventories due in October 2024.

A recent investigation in Pennsylvania revealed that many children in the state are drinking lead-tainted water at school. Test results from districts across Pennsylvania showed that 91% of the tests came back positive for lead.

Lead Pipes Replacement Efforts Underway

But environmental groups criticized the rule for not going far enough. In response, the Biden administration said it would make the improvements officials announced Thursday.

The 2021 infrastructure law included $15 billion to find and replace lead pipes. More will be needed. Additional federal funds are available to improve water infrastructure and the EPA is providing smaller communities with extra help. Some states, however, have been slower to attack the problem - a handful declined the first round of federal lead pipe funds.

A few communities have replaced pipes quickly. After crises in Benton Harbor, Michigan, and Newark, New Jersey, officials paid for and efficiently replaced lead pipes, adopting novel rules that required homeowners to let construction crews onto their property to do the work.

Replacing the country's lead pipes will be expensive, but the EPA says the health benefits far outweigh the cost.

Those benefits, Fox said, "are really priceless."

In March, the EPA also proposed for the first time a set of national standards for some per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), known as "forever chemicals" because of the significant amount of time it takes for them to break down. In July, a study found almost half of the United States' tap water is estimated to have one or more PFAS.