Hi all…The USEPA recently released its Lead and Copper Rule Revisions White Paper. The goals of the LCR revisions are to identify new strategies to further reduce lead and copper exposure, as corrosion control treatment may not be effective enough in all drinking water systems. The 18 page document is available for free download at: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-10/documents/508_lcr_revisions_white_paper_final_10.26.16.pdf

Bill

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Lead and Copper Rule Revisions White Paper: Executive Summary

“Exposure to lead is known to present serious health risks to the brain and nervous system of children. The recent crisis in Flint, Michigan, has brought increased attention to the challenge of lead in drinking water systems across the country. It is important to recognize that major reductions in been achieved in childhood exposure to lead in the United States. Data show that from 1976 – 1980 the median blood lead level of a child (1-5 years old) was 15 micrograms per deciliter. That median level has been reduced dramatically since then, to 1 microgram per deciliter, based on the most recent data. Further, over the last twenty-five years, the percentage of children aged 1–5 years with blood lead levels less than or equal to 5 micrograms per deciliter declined more than ten-fold, and blood lead levels fell dramatically for all racial and ethnic groups. These improvements were made by removing lead from toys and lead solder in cans, taking lead out of gasoline, reducing exposure to lead in paint and dust in homes and during renovations, greatly reducing the allowable content of lead in plumbing materials in homes and other buildings, and further reducing lead in drinking water through the federal Lead and Copper Rule (LCR). Although we have taken significant steps to protect our children from the detrimental effects of lead poisoning, there is more to do.

Lead and copper enter drinking water mainly from corrosion of lead and copper containing plumbing materials. Lead was widely used in plumbing materials until Congress banned its use in 1986, and there are an estimated 6.5 to 10 million homes served by lead service lines (LSLs) in thousands of communities nationwide, in addition to millions of older buildings with lead solder across the U.S. Lead exposure, whether through drinking water, soil, dust or air, can result in serious adverse health effects, particularly for young children. Infants and children exposed to lead may experience delays in physical and mental development and may show deficits in attention span and learning disabilities. In adults, lead exposure can cause kidney problems and high blood pressure. Copper exposure can cause stomach and intestinal distress, liver and kidney damage, and complications of Wilson’s disease in genetically predisposed people.

In 1991, EPA promulgated the LCR – a treatment technique regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) – to protect public health by minimizing lead and copper levels in drinking water, primarily by reducing water corrosivity through corrosion control treatment. This rule applies to 68,000 public water systems nationwide. EPA has continued to work to make the LCR more effective through interim revisions promulgated in 2000 and 2007.

Implementation of the LCR over the past twenty-five years has resulted in major improvements in public health; the number of the nation’s large drinking water systems with a 90th percentile sample value exceeding the LCR action level of 15 parts per billion has decreased by over 90 percent since the initial implementation of the LCR. However, the regulation and its implementation are in urgent need of an overhaul. Lead crises in Washington, DC, and in Flint, Michigan, and the subsequent national attention focused on lead in drinking water in other communities, have underscored significant challenges in the implementation of the current rule, including a rule structure that for many systems only compels protective actions after public health threats have been identified. Key challenges include the rule’s complexity, the degree of discretion it affords with regard to optimization of corrosion control treatment and compliance sampling practices that in some cases, may not adequately protect from lead exposure, and limited specific focus on key areas of concern such as schools. There is a compelling need to modernize and strengthen implementation of the rule – to strengthen its public health protections and to clarify its implementation requirements to make it more effective and more readily enforceable.

EPA has conducted extensive engagement with stakeholder groups and the public to inform revisions to the LCR. In December of 2015, EPA received comprehensive recommendations from the National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC) and other concerned stakeholders on potential steps to strengthen the LCR. EPA is carefully evaluating the recommendations from these groups. In addition, EPA is giving extensive consideration to the national experience in implementing the rule as well as the experience in Flint, MI, as we develop proposed revisions to the rule.

Key Principles for LCR Revisions

EPA’s goal for the LCR revisions is to improve public health protection while ensuring effective implementation by the 68,000 drinking water systems that are covered by the rule. This includes strengthening corrosion control treatment in drinking water systems to further reduce exposure to lead and copper and identifying additional actions that will equitably reduce the public’s exposure to lead and copper when corrosion control treatment alone is not effective. In developing proposed revisions to the LCR, EPA will be guided by several key principles, including:

  • Focus on Minimizing Exposure to Lead in Drinking Water: Improve public health protection by reducing exposure to lead in drinking water to the maximum amount possible through proactive measures to remove sources of lead and educating consumers about the health effects of lead and actions to reduce exposure.
  • Clear and Enforceable Requirements: Improve implementation by designing a more prescriptive regulation with fewer discretionary decision points that rely on the judgment of individuals in states and drinking water utilities that may lack expertise in the complexities of corrosion control treatment and distribution system management.
  • Transparency: Stronger programs to educate consumers about health risks and actions to reduce exposure to lead in drinking water, better access for consumers to information related to the location of LSLs, and more rapid test results of all tap samples and water quality parameter monitoring.
  • Environmental Justice and Children’s Health: Because of disparities in the quality of housing, community economic status, and access to medical care, lead in drinking water (and other media) disproportionately affects lower-income people. In addition, lead has disproportionate health effects on infants and children. In revising the LCR, EPA seeks to address environmental justice concerns and to prioritize protection of infants and children who are most vulnerable to the harmful effects of lead exposure.
  • Integrating Drinking Water with Cross-Media Lead Reduction Efforts: Leveraging efforts of state and local public health authorities to provide integrated approaches to comprehensively reduce exposure to lead from drinking water, paint, dust, soil and other potential sources of exposure.

EPA is carefully considering NDWAC advice and other stakeholder input and is undertaking key analytical work to develop proposed revisions to the LCR. We are considering an approach that will incorporate both technology- based and health-based elements – to ensure effective reductions of lead in drinking water at the water system level, while at the same time providing consumers with the information, tools and protections needed to address remaining risks. We anticipate that these elements will be supported by clear and robust revised sampling requirements, strengthened reporting, transparency provisions that ensure consumers have rapid access to relevant information and public education materials. Key potential elements under consideration are discussed in Section 3; these elements are highly interdependent, and potential revisions to the rule must be considered in an integrated perspective.”