Protecting Kids from Lead: 10 Reasons to be Thankful
There have been many wins in 2024, and we are excited to review them.
EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Improvement is a major step to a safer future for everyone who drinks tap water in America.
This tool will help millions of customers, homeowners, and potential buyers and renters. However, it is one pixel in a much larger picture of lead in homes.
Predictive modeling provides estimate of LSLs for each utility and can be a platform to provide information on each home.
This is the first time HUD has proposed a formula approach, saying it will “allow more efficient distribution of funding to the highest need communities, streamline the selection and award of grants for communities facing large lead paint problems.” The balance will be competitive and “open to a broader range of States, Native American Tribes, and communities with pre-1978 rental housing.”
IRS concludes that “the replacement of lead service lines under the programs described above does not result in income to the residential property owners under § 61 of the Internal Revenue Code.” The property owners’ financial need is not a factor.
If finalized as proposed, the rule should virtually eliminate the estimated 9.2 million lead service lines (LSLs) from our public water systems with the vast majority replaced by 2037. This would be a major achievement in the effort to reduce children’s and adult’s exposure to lead in drinking water.
As Unleaded Kids was preparing to submit comments by the February 5 deadline, we noticed a critical problem with the EPA proposal that could undermine achievement of the Biden Administration’s goal of eliminating LSLs. The proposal leaves ambiguous whether the mandate to replace LSLs includes lines on private property.