California Water News Daily Your Source For Water News in California
Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $28,650,000 from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to help California identify and replace lead service lines, preventing exposure to lead in drinking water. Lead can cause a range of severe health impacts, including irreversible harm to brain development in children. President Biden has committed to replacing every lead pipe in the country to protect children and families. The investment announced today, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and available through EPA’s capitalization of the state-run Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), takes another major step to advance public health and environmental justice and bolsters the Administration’s Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan and Get the Lead Out Initiative.
Working collaboratively, EPA and California are advancing the President’s Justice40 Initiative to ensure that 40% of overall benefits from certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities, including those overburdened by lead exposure and pollution. Lead exposure disproportionately affects communities of color and low-income communities. To date, the total funding announced through this program is expected to replace up to 1.7 million lead pipes nationwide, securing clean drinking water for countless families.
EPA projects a national total of 9 million lead service lines across the country, based on data collected from the updated 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment.
For more information, including state-by-state allotment of 2024 funding and a breakdown of EPA’s lead Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, visit EPA’s Drinking Water website.
