By Daphne Psaledakis and Jarrett Renshaw
(Reuters) -The Biden administration finalized a landmark rule on Tuesday that would require water utilities to replace virtually every lead pipe in the country within 10 years, tackling a major threat that is particularly dangerous to infants and children.
The White House has made removing every lead pipe within 10 years in the United States a centerpiece of its plan to address racial disparities and environmental issues in the wake of water contamination crises in recent years from Newark, New Jersey to Flint, Michigan.
In a Milwaukee speech to highlight the new rule, President Joe Biden said public officials have long understood the dangers lead pipes pose to the public, but it never had been given the national priority it deserved.
"I'm here today to tell you that I finally insisted that it gets prioritized and I'm insisting it get done," Biden said.
The rule is widely seen as popular in industrial Midwestern states that are expected to play a major role in deciding the presidential election next month.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running for president this November, has also called for replacing lead pipes, an issue especially important for undeserved communities.
The rule, initially proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2023, imposes the strictest limits on lead in drinking water since federal standards were first set decades ago and requires utilities to review their systems and replace them over the next 10 years.
The new rule supplants a looser standard set by former President Donald Trump’s administration that did not include a universal requirement to replace lead pipes.
Fifteen Republican attorneys general, led by Kris Kobach of Kansas, have criticized the EPA rule. The GOP officials said they are concerned that homeowners in some places might have to pay to replace pipe sections under their property.
Lead poisoning can cause irreversible damage to the nervous system and the brain and poses a specific risk to infants and children. Service lines that bring water into homes are thought to be a major source of lead exposure.
The EPA estimates the stricter standard will prevent up to 900,000 infants from having low birthweight and avoid up to 1,500 premature deaths a year from heart disease.
The dangers of lead contamination came into sharp relief in Flint, Michigan, a decade ago.
The 2021 bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $50 billion to support upgrades to the nation’s drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, including $15 billion over five years dedicated to lead service line replacement.