The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on March 10 that it is extending the effective date of the Revised Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) so the agency can seek further public input, particularly from communities most at-risk of exposure to lead in drinking water.
Residential household water well systems are not affected by the rule.
The EPA is committed to following the best science to address lead in the nation’s drinking water and will take the appropriate time to review the revised LCR and make sure communities that have been impacted the most are protected. To accomplish this goal, the EPA has posted two prepublication notices on its website regarding the revised LCR.
The first action is a final rule announcing an extension of the effective date for the revised LCR from March 16, 2021 until June 17, 2021. The purpose of this additional time is to enable the EPA to take public comment on a second action that would provide a longer extension of the effective date and for the EPA to undertake its review of the rule in a deliberate and thorough manner consistent with the public health purposes of the Safe Drinking Water Act as well as in consultation with affected stakeholders.
The second action proposes to extend the effective date until December 16, 2021 and proposes a corresponding extension of the revised LCR’s compliance deadline to September 16, 2024. This action would ensure that drinking water systems and primacy states continue to have the full three years provided by the Safe Drinking Water Act to take actions needed to assure regulatory compliance.
It should be noted that of all community water system LCR violations, nearly 80 percent have been at small groundwater-supplied public water systems.
The EPA is seeking comment on this proposal for 30 days after publishing in the Federal Register.
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