The Lead and Copper Rule Improvements rule requires the proactive replacement of most lead service lines nationwide within the next 10 years, improves sampling methods to more accurately measure lead levels, and will force more water systems to take immediate action to address lead contamination.
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.”
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.
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.
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
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
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