Quigley, Duckworth Push EPA to Update Lead and Copper Rule Following Flint Water Crisis

CHICAGO – Today, U.S. Representatives Mike Quigley (IL-05), a member of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC), and Tammy Duckworth (IL-08) led a letter with 31 other members of Congress to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy calling on the EPA to immediately improve the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) in the wake of the Flint water crisis.

“The Flint water crisis highlights the urgent need to address the threat of lead-contaminated drinking water that results from our nation’s aging and dilapidated infrastructure. A critical component of this effort must be modernizing the statutory and regulatory framework to ensure the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) actually ensures water is safe to drink and the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) is based on scientific evidence,” wrote the members. “Additionally, state and local water system regulators and operators should be using best practices with respect to monitoring lead levels, upgrading infrastructure, treating contaminated water and educating the public.”

In acting immediately to improve the LCR, the letter expressed that EPA should prioritize requiring:

• Each public water system to develop a plan to rapidly implement a Lead Service Line (LSL) replacement program, prioritizing areas with the highest number of known LSLs and featuring concrete goals and reasonably-achievable milestones for removing known LSLs;
• Public water systems to develop an accurate inventory of LSLs that are maintained in a database which is open and readily accessible to the public;
• Greater transparency and a broader nation-wide push for public education of individuals that live or purchase homes in areas subject to elevated lead exposure in the drinking water, in addition to improving the quality and availability of public education materials that are consumer-centered, detail the significant public health impacts associated with lead exposure and lay out best practices for preventing lead contamination;
• Public water systems to conduct a review of corrosion control effectiveness each time changes to source water or water treatment protocols are planned, in addition to mandating continual, close monitoring of corrosion control use and effectiveness in high-risk areas;
• A modification of monitoring requirements which should occur so that long-term trends can be identified and analyzed, including an increase in the amount of sampling that occurs across public water systems; and
• That the maximum containment level for lead or copper that determines when public water systems must take action to minimize lead exposure should take into account the most up-to-date scientific research and reflect CDC public health guidance on acceptable levels of lead exposure.

Reps. Quigley and Duckworth have also introduced a comprehensive legislative approach to address the nationwide contaminated drinking water crisis brought to light by the problems with the public water supply in Flint, Michigan. In February, Rep. Quigley led a conversation with local leaders to discuss what needs to be done at the local, state and federal level to keep Chicago’s drinking water safe from harmful toxins like lead.

Read the full letter here.