Federal Water Tap, October 15: Ten-Year Deadline for Most Lead Pipe Removal

The Rundown

• Biden administration revises federal rules for lead in drinking water, setting a national deadline.
• Meanwhile, an EPA deadline for water utilities to submit lead pipe inventories arrives this week.
• CDC and local officials in San Diego investigate health impacts from cross-border sewage in Tijuana River.
• EPA plans to survey large wastewater plants nationally to understand PFAS in wastewater and sewage sludge.
• Another pumped storage hydropower project in the Southwest files for a preliminary permit.

And lastly, hurricane aid is caught up in Republican fiscal austerity politics.

“Congress is fully prepared to provide additional disaster relief funding as soon as states submit their damage assessments.” – Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), the speaker of the House, posting on Facebook about the terms under which his fractious caucus would consider additional spending on disaster aid. The continuing resolution that Congress passed last month freed up $20 billion for FEMA to respond to numerous disasters, from floods to fires. Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which occurred after the continuing resolution was signed by President Biden on September 26, have added to the disaster management agency’s workload. Any additional financial aid is unlikely to arrive until after the election. Congress is out campaigning until mid-November.

By the Numbers

400: Large wastewater treatment plants that the EPA will ask to respond to a survey about PFAS that flow into their facilities via wastewater discharges and how they handle sewage sludge that remains after the treatment process. Two hundred to 300 of the facilities will be selected for more intensive sampling of influent and sludge. The result will be a national dataset of PFAS in sewage sludge. Sludge is a pathway for PFAS contamination of farm fields and livestock. Farmers and ranchers are currently suing the EPA for failing to regulate PFAS in sludge.

News Briefs

Lead Pipe Rules
The Biden administration finalized stricter rules for keeping toxic lead out of drinking water.

The rule, one of the most complex for a drinking water contaminant, strengthens requirements in several areas. The intent is, among other things, to protect children from the brain-damaging effects of ingested lead. The rule:

• Requires most utilities to remove their lead service lines within 10 years. Those like Chicago with a large number of lead lines are eligible for a longer timeline. The threshold is more than 39 service line replacements per year per 1,000 connections.
• Reduces the “action level” from 15 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion that is expected to result in earlier response to elevated lead.
• Removes a secondary “trigger level” that was in a draft version.
• Orders utilities to provide filters to all customers if the action level is exceeded four times in five years.
• Prohibits partial service line replacements where the service line is “under control” of the utility. The rule does not define when this is the case. If access to private property is needed to replace the line, the utility must make four attempts to get the property owner’s consent. If no consent, the utility does not need to try again until the property is sold.
• Changes tap sampling protocol to account for lead in water farther from the tap.
• Does not apply to pipes inside a house.

“This is an opportunity to reduce lead exposure to millions of families all across the country, and we believe we’ve done it in a very strategic way, a legally sound way, supported by the science,” said Michael Regan, the EPA administrator. “And the health benefits of this rule are undeniable.”

President Biden announced the final rule while in Milwaukee, where he touted federal investment in job training. Replacing the estimated 9 lead pipes nationally over a decade, the administration argues, will put people to work.

“This funding not only provides clean drinking water, but this effort is also creating good-paying jobs, many of them union jobs, in replacing lead pipes and delivering clean water,” said Natalie Quillian, White House deputy chief of staff.

Studies and Reports

Water System Threats Bulletin
The EPA and WaterISAC, an information clearinghouse, have teamed up to publish a quarterly bulletin on security threats to the water and wastewater sectors.

The September issue highlights the rising number of cyberattacks on water systems and provides cybersafety tips.

Foul Air
This week CDC staff will go door-to-door in San Diego County to conduct a survey to learn about health impacts in the area from sewage in the Tijuana River.

Residents have complained about noxious gases coming from the river. School districts cancelled outdoor activities in early September, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

On the Radar

Lead Pipe Inventories
Water utilities have until October 16 to submit to the EPA an inventory of lead drinking water pipes in their service areas.

The inventories are supposed to guide utilities when removing the pipes. They could also be used to justify a less strict timeline, a senior White House official said.

“As we get more information about what number of lead service lines exist, then, through the inventories that will be created — the first one is due October 16th, for example — we’ll be in a better position to determine whether communities actually need more time. And we’ll go through a process for that.”

Pumped Storage in the Desert
A new pumped storage hydropower project on federally managed public lands filed for a preliminary permit with FERC.

Desert Bloom Energy Storage LLC proposes a pair of closed-loop reservoirs on Bureau of Land Management land outside Las Vegas, Nevada. It would have an installed capacity of 450 megawatts.

The Southwest has been the site of several pumped storage proposals in recent years, including one along the Little Colorado River that FERC rejected. Pumped storage moves water to a higher reservoir when electricity is cheap and releases it at periods of high demand.

A preliminary permit holds a place in line for the developer while preparing for a full application. It does not allow for any construction.

Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton