Right now, millions of families across the country drink water delivered by toxic lead pipes. Lead-in-water crises like that in Flint, MI continue to sicken families years after they were uncovered. A rule was finalized last year to finally address this, but Republican lawmakers are working fast to roll it back and keep millions of lead pipes in the ground.

In October 2024, the Biden administration finalized Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, a major update to the lead-in-water rule to require most drinking water systems to replace their lead pipes within a decade. The Lead Out of Water rule was a massive victory in protecting public health against this neurotoxin, which is especially dangerous for children. 

But Republican lawmakers claim that lead pipe replacements are too expensive. In January, they introduced H.J. Res 18 in Congress to roll back the Lead Out of Water rule. This measure could be reintroduced any day and move quickly to revoke the historic regulation.

At the same time, many of these same lawmakers want to rush tax cuts for billionaires and large corporations. They’re supporting corporate profits over the health of families and children.

We can’t let them get away with this. In the coming weeks, we’re urging lawmakers to vote “No” on this resolution, and we’re building the majority we need to shut it down in the House of Representatives. 

We’re rallying in these legislators’ districts and sending letters and calls to their offices. We’re demanding that they stand up for the health and safety of their constituents instead of siding with water companies that don’t want to pay to replace these pipes. They must vote on the side of public health and support getting lead out of our water.

Lead Water Pipes Threaten Families Across the Country

Our country’s lead water pipes (called “service lines” when connecting homes to a water main) present a public health crisis. There is no safe level of lead in drinking water, and it’s especially dangerous for children. Lead contamination in water can damage the nervous system and blood cells, cause developmental disorders, and more.

Yet the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 9 million U.S. homes get their water from lead service lines. Schools and daycares have also found elevated lead levels in their water; this is especially concerning due to lead’s specific threat to children. Poorer communities and communities of color like those in East Chicago, IN, Chicago, IL, Detroit, MI, and Flint, MI, are more likely to have lead pipes, compounding historical injustices.

Lead pipes are slowly poisoning our communities and children. These old and outdated pipes need to be replaced, and the 2024 Lead Out of Water rule will do just that. The rule also lowers the level of lead contamination at which public water systems must take protective actions. 

This is game-changing for the many communities across the country that are drinking water from lead pipes right now. The EPA estimates that the rule will prevent up to 1,500 cases of premature death from heart disease and risky low-birth weights for up to 900,000 infants each year. It found that the public health and economic benefits outweigh the cost of the replacements 13 to 1.

Lawmakers Put Profit Over Our Health and Safety

The “Lead Out of Water” rule was a historic move to address this crisis. But now, right-wing lawmakers have made repealing it a top priority. If they do so, the law would go back to a weak Trump rule, which slowed the pace for lead service line replacements.

Going back to this rule would allow toxic lead pipes to remain in place longer, endangering the health of millions. Several states have many thousand service lines that are putting constituents at risk right now. When we asked states for information from their lead service line inventories, we found that:

• Iowa has more than 51,000 known lead service lines. 
• New York has more than 127,000 known lead service lines.
• New Jersey has more than 172,000 known lead service lines.
• Colorado has more than 17,000 known lead service lines. 

Pennsylvania, according to EPA estimates, has more than 688,000 known lead service lines. 

Moreover, several of these states have thousands, even millions of service lines whose material is a mystery. For example, the material for half of all service lines in New Jersey, 2.2 million, is unknown. Some states also have significant numbers of galvanized service lines, which can contaminate water with lead and must be replaced under the Lead Out of Water rule. 

These states are some of the hardest hit by lead-in-water crises. Their representatives now have the chance to put the people who elected them first. The choice is clear: they can cave to Donald Trump and his cronies, or they can stand with their constituents and protect them from toxic lead poisoning.

Congress: Do the Right Thing and Get the Lead Out of Our Water!

To protect everyone from lead exposure, we need to remove all lead service lines and require replacements with copper pipes, not toxic PVC or CPVC ones. Moreover, Congress must provide this funding, so the cost doesn’t fall onto families already working hard to make ends meet. 

The Lead Out of Water Rule was a huge first step in this direction, and it will improve millions of lives when it’s carried out. Repealing it would be a massive step backward that would put millions at further risk.

Right now, we have a critical opportunity to defend the rule. In the next few weeks, Food & Water Watch is joining communities across the country to pressure elected officials to do the right thing. They need to reject H.J. Res 18 and any other effort to roll back the Lead Out of Water rule.