The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released guidance to help water utilities identify lead pipes that connect drinking water service to homes and other buildings.
EPA issued the guidance to help water utilities comply with the requirements of the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions that went into effect in December 2021 and make rapid progress on removing harmful lead from America’s drinking water.
“There is no safe level of lead exposure, and it is essential that we accelerate progress on locating lead pipes that deliver drinking water where people live, work, and play,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox. “We are using every tool available, including providing this important guidance, strengthening the Lead and Copper Rule, and investing $15 billion through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to remove lead pipes.”
Specifically, EPA’s new Guidance for Developing and Maintaining a Service Line Inventory:
- Provides best practices for inventory development and risk communications.
- Contains case studies on developing, reviewing, and communicating about inventories.
- Includes a template for water systems, states, and Tribes to use or adapt to create their own inventory.
- Highlights the importance of prioritizing inventory development in disadvantaged communities and where children live and play.
Under the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, water systems are required to prepare and maintain an inventory of service line materials by October 16, 2024. EPA’s new guidance will assist water systems in developing and maintaining service line inventories, support notifications to consumers served by lead pipes, and provide states with needed information for oversight and reporting to EPA.
