EPA details push on lead pipes

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration took steps Thursday aimed at reducing lead in drinking water, announcing plans to release $2.9 billion in infrastructure bill funds next year for lead pipe removal and impose stricter rules to limit exposure.

Vice President Kamala Harris made the case for the administration’s push to eliminate every lead service line in the country, reiterating the pledge that the effort would create jobs across and begin to undo the harm pollution has caused in poor, often minority communities.

“The challenge that we face is, without any question, great. Lead is built into our cities. It is laid under our roads and it is installed in our homes,” Harris said in remarks at AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington.

The White House estimates between 6 million and 10 million U.S. households and 400,000 schools get water through lead service lines, which connect buildings to the water main and can leach particles of the neurotoxin into drinking water and potentially cause severe developmental and neurological issues — especially when consumed by children. In recent years, the risks facing cities with lead service lines have come into focus, most notably after the Flint, Mich., water crisis.

The administration estimates 24 million homes are at risk of having lead paint, which can pose significant health risks even when absorbed at low levels.

The Biden EPA’s requirements to strengthen the nation’s lead-inwater rules are expected to be finalized by 2024, and would require the replacement of remaining lead drinking water pipes “as quickly as is feasible.”

“The science on lead is settled — there is no safe level of exposure and it is time to remove this risk to support thriving people and vibrant communities,” EPA administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.