EPA Proposes Updates to Rules Impacting Lead and Copper in Drinking Water

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposal last week, to address how communities across the country can reduce lead in public drinking water. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler revealed the proposal at events in Green Bay on Thursday and Milwaukee on Friday. In his remarks, Wheeler highlighted three areas of the revisions, including those that require more water systems to act sooner to reduce lead levels and protect public health, improve transparency and communication, and better protect children and the most at-risk communities. DNR Secretary-designee Preston D. Cole also commented, saying “There are hundreds of thousands of lead lines that need to be replaced in more than 130 cities, towns and villages across Wisconsin. We have to get the lead service lines out of the ground if we are going to ensure drinking water is safely provided to all.”