Years after Flint crisis, Trump administration proposes changes to lead rules

 WASHINGTON – Nearly four years after an emergency was declared over lead contamination in Flint's drinking water, the Trump administration on Thursday proposed new rules that could result in utilities and states moving more quickly to protect public health in such cases.

Critics, including those in the environmental community, complained that the proposed changes to the federal Lead and Copper Rule don't go far enough in requiring utilities to replace lead water lines, however.

“We know there is no safe level of lead in water and we need to remove all lead service lines in our communities to protect families and children," said U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, who played a key role in getting funding and resources for Flint during the crisis. "Yet (this rule) allows lead lines to remain in communities, even after high levels of lead have been found in drinking water."

Andrew Wheeler, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, announced the proposed changes — the first major update to the Lead and Copper Rule since the 1990s — at a news conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  As he outlined it, the proposal would:

• Require water systems to compile and regularly update a publicly available inventory of all lead service lines and require them to find and remedy sources of lead when a home's water sample exceeds 15 parts per billion, the current action level.
• Create a new "trigger" level of 10 parts per billion that would require water systems to determine how they might lower lead levels, such as by reevaluating corrosion control treatment in the lines. 
• Require systems to notify customers within 24 hours if a sample collected at their home is above 15 parts per billion for lead. Schools and child care facilities would also get regular testing to ensure lead levels were in compliance.
• Force water systems to replace their lead service lines to a home if and when a homeowner decides to replace lines on his or her property. Water systems with homes above 15 parts per billion would be required to replace at least 3% of their lead service lines every year after that.

“By improving protocols for identifying lead, expanding sampling and strengthening treatment requirements, our proposal would ensure that more water systems proactively take actions to prevent lead exposure," Wheeler said. 

Green Bay has been working on replacing about 4,400 lead pipes over the last 30 years and has reduced its total to just over 300 during that period.

Critics, however, said that the Trump administration's proposal falls far short of calling for utilities to replace all of the lead service lines across the nation, a task that could cost billions of dollars.

There were also concerns that, under the proposed rule, utilities may be allowed to replace lead service lines under a process that is slower than the current one. Some media reports noted the requirement that systems ordered to replace lines at 3% a year is lower than the current 7% a year replacement requirement.

In January, 2016, then-President Barack Obama declared a public emergency in Flint because of high levels of lead in the drinking water there. It was determined that the lead levels were caused by a 2014 switch in the city's drinking water supply that resulted in lead scaling off the insides of the old lines in the city and into people's taps.

It was determined that the state failed to require corrosion controls in the lines that could have kept lead from leaching into the water supply. 

Lead is especially harmful to children and infants, potentially causing damage to the nervous system, learning disabilities and skeletal problems. Flint's water supply has been switched back to its original source, and filtered water there is considered safe to drink, though many residents are still fearful of drinking it.

Since 2016, Flint has been surveying and replacing lead and older galvanized steel pipes throughout the city. As of this month, about 8,500 have been replaced. While the total number is not known, there are estimated to be about 12,000 such pipes in Flint.

The EPA will be taking public comment on its proposed rules for 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register at www.regulations.gov before finalizing them.

Read more:

Study: Flint children's blood lead levels hit historic low in 2016

All Flint water crisis criminal charges dismissed by attorney general's office — for now

Contact Todd Spangler:tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler. Read more onMichigan politics and sign up for ourelections newsletter.