President Joe Biden announced that cities have 10 years to replace their lead pipes as part of a new Environmental Protection Agency rule.
The Guardian reported on Biden's announcement, which was delivered during a Milwaukee stop on the campaign trail for Kamala Harris. The publication explained that the new rule is the strongest overhaul of lead standards for water in decades.
"We're finally addressing an issue that should've been addressed a long time ago in this country,'' Biden said during his speech. "We are showing up as a partner to get it done."
High levels of lead in tap water can lead to a number of health risks, including damage to the brain and kidneys and interference with the production of the red blood cells that carry oxygen to all parts of the body, according to healthychildren.org. Infants, young children, and pregnant women face the greatest impacts from this heavy metal.
"Everyone wants this lead out," said EPA administrator Michael Regan, per the Guardian. "The science has been clear for decades: there is no safe level of lead in our drinking water.''
According to the publication, the new standard will prevent low birth weights in up to 900,000 infants and avoid up to 1,500 annual premature deaths from heart disease.
The EPA is offering $2.6 billion for drinking water infrastructure through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act to help cities comply with the new standards. It is also awarding $35 million in grants for programs to reduce lead in drinking water.
This is one of a number of new federal regulations aimed at protecting public health. For instance, in April 2024, the Biden administration announced reforms to the Superfund law that designate two common "forever chemicals" as hazardous substances and hold polluters accountable for cleaning up contamination in communities. Plus, the EPA announced new regulations that will require automakers to focus on electric and hybrid vehicles by 2032 — this shift will improve air quality and reduce planet-warming pollution.
As for the new lead pipe rule, it "represents a major victory for public health" and will protect millions of people "whose health is threatened every time they fill a glass from the kitchen sink contaminated by lead," Erik Olson, senior strategic director for health at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told the Washington Post.
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Meanwhile, Deanna Branch, a mother and lead-poisoning awareness activist from Milwaukee — a city at the forefront of this public health concern — expressed relief that money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act is now being used to remove lead pipes in her city. Her son Aiden suffered from lead poisoning while they were living in a home with lead in the paint, windows, pipes and soil, according to CBS News.
"When I first started advocating, there was a 50-year plan that went down to a 40-year plan. Now there is a nine-year plan to remove all the lead pipes in Milwaukee," she told the news outlet. "I should be alive to see the lead pipes being removed out of Milwaukee and that gives me hope for other places as well."
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