EPA Announces $3 Billion Funding for States to Reduce Lead in Drinking Water

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will give $3 billion to states to reduce the presence of lead in drinking water, the agency said in a Nov. 25 statement.

“This funding will accelerate progress in finding and removing lead pipes (also known as lead service lines that deliver water to homes, schools, and businesses),” the EPA said. “Lead pipes are the key source of lead—a potent neurotoxin particularly harmful to children—in drinking water.”

Children exposed to lead may suffer damage to the brain and nervous system, experience learning and behavioral problems, undergo slowed growth and development, and have speech and hearing issues, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This can lead to lower IQ, decreased ability to pay attention, and underperformance in school. The negative health effects are more harmful to children below the age of six, according to the agency.

The EPA said that reducing lead is a priority under its Powering the Great American Comeback Initiative. The $3 billion funding is in line with the Trump administration’s commitment to tackle lead exposure in drinking water, a continuation of its first term.

During the first term, the Trump administration’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions required improved data collection with regard to lead service inventories, which refer to all service lines and their materials in a water system’s distribution network.

The EPA has now assessed that there are 4 million lead service lines across the United States per the latest data, revised down from the previous estimate of 9 million.

The agency also released a new dashboard highlighting the latest data provided by states regarding lead service line inventories.

“This investment represents the EPA’s unwavering commitment to protecting America’s children from the dangers of lead exposure in their drinking water,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said.

“With our updated data, we can tackle this challenge more efficiently than ever before, and we’re ensuring every dollar goes directly toward replacing the lead pipes that threaten our communities. This is about giving parents peace of mind and securing healthier futures for the next generation.”

In addition to the $3 billion funding, the EPA said $1.1 billion in extra funds that were previously announced to tackle the problem of lead in water will be redistributed.

In October last year, the EPA issued a final Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) rule requiring drinking water systems across the United States to identify and replace all lead pipes in their network within 10 years.

The requirement has faced legal challenges. In December last year, the American Water Works Association (AWWA) filed a petition in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit against the rule, arguing that its implementation was not feasible.

On Sept. 15, AWWA said it filed its opening brief in the petition.

“The LCRI introduces a ten-year timeline for lead service lines to be removed, absent a special exemption. The logistical, labor, supply chain, and technical realities of complete lead service line removal and replacement nationwide, in small communities and large, make a ten-year window implausible,” AWWA said.

“EPA dramatically underestimates the nationwide cost of lead service line replacement. Even with federal and state infrastructure loans, the cost of lead service line replacement will be borne by communities and their water customers.”

AWWA asked the court to return the rule to the EPA so that a final regulation that protects public health and is also economically feasible to implement could be created. The association has roughly 50,000 members.

The Epoch Times reached out to the EPA regarding the AWWA claim, but did not receive a response before publication time.

The $3 billion EPA funding is one of the latest actions the Trump administration has taken on the issue of lead contamination in drinking water.

In June, the EPA announced setting aside $26 million in funding for states and territories to resolve this issue in schools and child care facilities.

With the funding, “more schools will be able to identify sources of lead in their water and take action so that our nation’s children can focus on learning, playing, and developing skills that will maximize their potential and make our nation stronger,” EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said at the time.