The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released its proposed revision to the Lead and Copper Rule. The proposed rule improves critical aspects of the Lead and Copper Rule including:  

• Requiring all public lead service lines to be replaced within ten years; 
• Eliminating trigger levels in favor of a health-based threshold for lead exposure of no more than ten parts per billion; 
• More rigorous lead testing requirements; and  
• Ensuring inventories for lead service lines are regularly updated. 

In response to the release of the proposed rule, the BlueGreen Alliance released the following statement from Executive Director Jason Walsh: 

“This proposed rule will help create good, union jobs, improve the health of entire communities, and address environmental injustice by prioritizing low-income communities and communities of color that have been disproportionately impacted by toxic legacy chemicals like lead. 

“This is a positive step towards getting the lead out of drinking water. The final rule can go even further by including additional equity considerations—such as full replacement of lead service lines located on the private side of properties and addressing the proper disposal of replaced lead service lines, two major sources of lead exposure.  

“We thank EPA for this important step in addressing the issue of lead pipes and urge swift action to finalize this rule and replace all these harmful pipes once and for all.”