Suzanne Novak, Attorney, Northeast Office: “If we don’t prohibit charging a customer, we may very well end up with a two-tiered system, where wealthier communities, which are disproportionately white, will have more of their lead service lines replaced than in other communities.”

Earthjustice comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead and Copper Rule Improvements rule.

The trendy water bottles have raised concerns about lead poisoning. While experts say the cups are safe, here’s where lead exposure is a problem in our lives and what we can do about it.

Tell the government we need bold solutions to protect millions of people from lead.

As we approach lead poisoning prevention week Oct. 22-28, developments are promising despite some stumbling blocks.

Staggering borough and neighborhood lead line data show urgency to act

As many as 22 million people drink water from lead

Agency asks court to allow revisions and new rulemaking for the Lead and Copper Rule

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a court motion for remand to revisit and reassess the revisions it made to the Lead and Copper Rule during the Trump Administration. The Lead and Copper rule, or LCR, regulates the control and monitoring of lead in drinking water. The EPA is asking for the remand in response to a challenge brought by Earthjustice a on behalf of civil rights and environmental groups, for not protecting children’s health and the safety of the drinking water that millions of people living in the United States rely on. There were additional challenges filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and 9 state Attorneys General and the District of Columbia.

Challenge to the Lead and Copper Rule submitted by Attorneys General from 9 states and the District of Columbia

Court motion filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) saying it will reassess revisions it made to the Lead and Copper Rule during the Trump administration, promising key improvements to the rule.

Three separate legal documents:
1. Initial Opening Brief of Petitioners Newburgh Clean Water Project, NAACP, Sierra Club, United Parents Against Lead, and Natural Resources Defense Council, represented by Earthjustice.
2. Standing Addendum of Petitioners Newburgh Clean Water Project, NAACP, Sierra Club, United Parents Against Lead, and Natural Resources Defense Council, represented by Earthjustice.
3. Initial Opening Brief of State Petitioners

As children across the country are drinking and breathing lead, EPA must take concrete steps

The Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) is a complex set of regulations established in 1991 under the Safe Drinking Water Act. While intended to protect the public from lead in drinking water, the LCR focuses only on detecting and preventing severe contamination across a community. It is not a health-based regulation and does not address high lead levels in individual homes. The LCR is outdated and flawed.

Earthjustice commends EPA for actions to strengthen Lead and Copper Rule

Suzanne Novak, Attorney, Northeast Office, Earthjustice: “It’s been 30 years.”

The Lead and Copper rule, or LCR, regulates the control and monitoring of lead in drinking water. Revisions to the rule, finalized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2021, dramatically slow down the rate at which lead pipes are required to be replaced. The new rule also allows small public water systems required to…

EPA seeking input from lead-poisoned communities is an encouraging step