FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Action to Protect Communities from Lead Exposure | The White House

Building on the Biden-Harris Administration’s Historic Commitment to Protect Children and Families from Lead Poisoning, EPA Proposes Rule to Remove Lead Pipes Across the United States

The Biden-Harris Administration is working to ensure a future where every child and family can live safely in their communities without the fear and harmful effects of lead exposure. Today, as part of President Biden and Vice President Harris’s vision for a lead-free future, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposal to strengthen its Lead and Copper Rule that would require water systems to replace lead service lines within 10 years, helping secure safe drinking water for communities across the country. The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests over $50 billion for the largest upgrade to the nation’s water infrastructure in history, and today’s action builds on these historic levels of funding from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics, to replace lead service lines across the nation.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Emphasized:

1. Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
2. Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
3. Goal 13: Climate Action
4. Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

Background

More than 9.2 million American households connect to water through lead pipes and lead service lines. Due to decades of inequitable infrastructure development and underinvestment, lead exposure disproportionately affects low-income communities and communities of color. There is no safe level of exposure to lead, particularly for children, and eliminating lead exposure from the air, water, and homes is a crucial component of the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic commitment to advancing environmental justice.

EPA’s Proposed Rule

In addition to taking action towards achieving 100 percent replacement of lead service lines, EPA’s proposed Lead and Copper Rule Improvements increase tap water sampling requirements, require water systems to complete comprehensive and publicly available lead service line inventories, and strengthen and streamline requirements for water systems to take additional actions to reduce lead health risks to communities. This proposal advances the Biden-Harris Administration’s Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan, a whole-of-government approach to reduce all sources of lead exposure.

Actions Taken by the Administration

The Administration has taken several actions to tackle lead exposure from water, air, food, lead paint, and other sources which pose risks to human health:

Reducing Exposure to Lead from Water

• The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $15 billion in funding specifically dedicated for replacing lead service lines, along with an additional $11.7 billion in general-purpose funding through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, which can also be used for lead pipe replacement. To date, EPA has awarded over $3.5 billion of this lead service line funding to replace hundreds of thousands of lead service lines in homes, buildings, and schools. To advance President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, EPA has committed to deploying at least 49 percent of its State Revolving Funds to disadvantaged communities. In total during this administration, EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund programs have provided over $796 million to help systems that serve disadvantaged communities begin removal of lead service lines across the country, protecting the health of over 9.8 million people.
• Funding from the American Rescue Plan’s $350 billion State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund can be used by states and communities to replace lead service lines and remediate lead paint. To date, well over $20 billion nationwide has been invested in water infrastructure projects, including significant clean water investments.
• This month, EPA launched the Get the Lead Out (GLO) Initiative, which sets out a partnership with 200 underserved communities nationwide to provide the technical assistance they need to access funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and remove lead service lines from their communities. This initiative builds on EPA and the Department of Labor’s partnership with 40 underserved communities to support lead pipe replacement.
• In February 2023, EPA announced a $340 million financing commitment to the City of Philadelphia for lead pipe replacement through the WIFIA program. The initial loan of nearly $20 million will modernize critical drinking water infrastructure by replacing approximately 160 lead service lines and 15 miles of watermains throughout the city.
• In November 2023, EPA announced a $336 million loan to the City of Chicago for lead pipe replacement through the WIFIA program. This financing will help Chicago, which has one of the highest concentrations of lead pipes in the nation, to replace up to 30,000 lead service lines while creating an estimated 2,700 jobs.
• In August 2023, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced $78 million in new awards to remediate lead pipes. These funds will help ensure that rural communities have the funds they need to access clean and safe drinking water.
• In March 2023, EPA and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a joint letter to governors to encourage state and local governments to use federal funding to reduce and remove lead in drinking water in early care and education settings, like elementary schools and daycare facilities.
• In July 2023, EPA announced $58 million in grant funding from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to protect children from lead in drinking water at schools and childcare facilities across the country. Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, activities like these to remove lead from drinking water are now eligible to receive funding through the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN). WIFIA and WIIN are also Justice40 covered programs.

Reducing Exposure to Lead from Paint and Dust in the Home

• In July 2023, EPA announced a proposal to strengthen requirements for the removal of lead-based paint hazards in old buildings and child care facilities to better protect children and communities from exposure to dust generated from lead paint. The proposed rule would strengthen EPA’s regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) by revising the dust-lead hazard standards which identify hazardous lead in dust on floors and window sills, and the dust-lead clearance levels of the amount of lead that can remain in dust on floors, window sills and window troughs after lead removal activities. If finalized, this rule will reduce the potential lead exposures of approximately 250,000 to 500,000 children under age six per year.
• On November 1 and 2, 2023, the EPA and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) held a virtual public workshop to receive stakeholder input on the detection, measurement, and characterization of lead-based paint to support efforts to reduce lead exposure. EPA and HUD will use information received during the workshop to inform their joint effort to revisit the federal definition of lead-based paint and propose and finalize a revised definition, if necessary. EPA
  

  SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

  SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

  1. SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
  • Target 6.1: By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.
  • Indicator 6.1.1: Proportion of the population using safely managed drinking water services.
  • Target 6.3: By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater, and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally.
  • Indicator 6.3.2: Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality.
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
• Target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe, and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.
• Indicator 11.1.1: Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements, or inadequate housing.
• SDG 13: Climate Action
• Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning.
• Indicator 13.2.1: Number of countries that have integrated mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning into their national policies, strategies, and planning.
• SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
• Target 16.7: Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory, and representative decision-making at all levels.
• Indicator 16.7.1: Proportions of positions in public institutions (national and local legislatures, public service, and judiciary) compared to national distributions by sex, age, persons with disabilities, and population groups.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

SDGs	Targets	Indicators
SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation	Target 6.1: By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.	Indicator 6.1.1: Proportion of the population using safely managed drinking water services.
SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation	Target 6.3: By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater, and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally.	Indicator 6.3.2: Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality.
	Target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe, and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.	Indicator 11.1.1: Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements, or inadequate housing.
SDG 13: Climate Action	Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning.	Indicator 13.2.1: Number of countries that have integrated mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning into their national policies, strategies, and planning.
SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions	Target 16.7: Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory, and representative decision-making at all levels.	Indicator 16.7.1: Proportions of positions in public institutions (national and local legislatures, public service, and judiciary) compared to national distributions by sex, age, persons with disabilities, and population groups.

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Source: whitehouse.gov

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