ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
President Biden announced new restrictions on lead in drinking water today.
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PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: There's no safe level of lead exposure, period - none. The only way forward is to replace every lead pipeline and connect the American people to clean water.
SHAPIRO: The president spoke in Wisconsin, a state with more than 300,000 lead pipes in its water system. Under the new landmark rule from the Environmental Protection Agency, Wisconsin will need to replace them all within the next 10 years. NPR's Pien Huang has more.
PIEN HUANG, BYLINE: There are some 9 million homes around the country getting water through lead pipes. Michael Regan, head of the EPA, says those pipes have the potential to leach toxic metal into drinking water.
MICHAEL REGAN: In children, lead can severely harm mental and physical development, slow down learning and irreversibly damage the brain. In adults, lead can cause increased blood pressure, heart disease, decreased kidney function and cancer.
HUANG: Congress banned lead pipes for drinking water in 1986, but pipes that were previously installed were allowed to remain until now. The new rule is called the Lead and Copper Rule Improvement and is expected to significantly reduce the incidence of low birth weight and heart disease and improve IQ in affected neighborhoods. Betsy Southerland used to work in the Office of Water at EPA, and she says the agency was up against a deadline.
BETSY SOUTHERLAND: They had to really kill themselves to get this final so that they would beat the October 16 effective date of the Trump rule.
HUANG: Today's EPA rule supersedes a rule by the Trump administration that advocates say didn't go far enough. Erik Olson with the environmental advocacy group NRDC says he's very happy with this version.
ERIK OLSON: Once this rule is fully in effect and all the lead pipes are pulled out in the next decade, it's going to really have big benefits for our health.
HUANG: Olson says it has significant funding. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included at least $15 billion for lead pipe removal. The rule also lowers the lead action level from 15 to 10 parts per billion. Water systems that exceed that repeatedly have to give customers filters to use at home.
Environmental advocates say there are still gaps. It doesn't require schools or child care centers to test their water for lead, and it doesn't require water systems to pay for lead pipe replacement on private property. The EPA says such actions could exceed their authorities. The first step to replacing lead pipes is knowing where they are, and water systems are expected to submit their initial inventories next week. Pien Huang, NPR News.
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