The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed “Lead and Copper Rule Improvements” on November 30 with a 60-day comment period once it is published in the Federal Register.
NGWA commented on the last Lead and Copper Rule Revision in February 2020, focusing on support needed for small water systems both technically and financially.
Seventy-three percent of public community water systems are small groundwater-supplied systems serving less than 10,000 people. Of the 510 water systems that have health-based lead and copper violations, 86 percent are small groundwater-supplied systems. Of the 8433 systems that have recently received violations for not monitoring or reporting monitoring results, 83 percent are small groundwater-supplied systems.
Residential household water well systems are not affected by the proposed rule.
Follows is a summary of what is proposed.
- The EPA is proposing to require water systems to replace lead service lines under the control of the water system within 10 years, with limited exceptions.
- The proposed rule also includes revisions that would enable states, water systems, and communities to better identify where lead service lines are.
- The EPA is also proposing to reduce the lead action level to 10 µg/L to require more water systems to act sooner to control corrosion and provide public education.
- The EPA is proposing to improve the public education requirements for water systems by updating the content and delivery frequency for more proactive messaging about lead in drinking water as well as other revisions to increase transparency and better inform the public of lead exposure and health risks.
- The proposed LCRI would reduce the complexity of the rule and includes provisions that support more efficient implementation by water systems while reducing lead exposure in more communities.
- The EPA is proposing to strengthen tap sampling procedures to better identify communities most at risk of elevated lead in drinking water to better compel systems to take actions.
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