A joint resolution (H.J. Res. 18) was introduced this month in the House that would repeal a key Biden administration water safety rule requiring the replacement of all toxic lead water pipes in most communities across the country within a decade. This resolution will likely have to be reintroduced for procedural reasons. Repeal of this strong public health standard has been identified as a top priority by Republican Congressional leaders.

In addition to replacing lead pipes, the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) also require more rigorous testing of drinking water and a lower threshold for requiring communities to take action against lead exposure in water – from 15 ppb to 10 ppb. Under heavy pressure from the corporate water industry, Republicans are seeking to use the Congressional Review Act to throw out the LCRI.

“Given all we know about the grave health impacts associated with lead exposure, especially for children, it’s truly unconscionable that Republicans would seek to revoke the common-sense actions taken by the Biden administration to finally tackle the pervasive threat of lead in water throughout the country,” said Mary Grant, water program director at Food & Water Watch. “Anyone who votes to repeal these critical lead contamination rules will have that vote hanging over them for years to come.”

Meanwhile, a number of states led by New York are advancing a legal petition to defend the LCRI against a lawsuit from the corporate water industry challenging the rules.

Lead service lines are the main source of lead in drinking water, and the EPA estimates that 9 million homes are still served through these lead lines. There is no safe level of lead in drinking water; it is especially dangerous for children. Exposure can lead to developmental disorders, damage to the nervous system and blood cells, and more. In 2021, out of one million children in the U.S. tested, half showed detectable levels of lead in their blood. Lead exposure is much more likely for poorer children and children of color, reinforcing historical inequities.  

The Biden administration’s LCRI replaced a rule issued under the first Trump administration that slowed the pace of lead service line replacements, endangering the health of tens of millions of people in the United States.