In late 2023 EPA published its draft Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI). The intent of this update to the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) is, as the name implies, an effort to improve the nation’s approach to reducing lead exposure in drinking water. The LCRR was the first major update to the Lead and Copper Rule since its inception in the early 1990s. This effort is the first time EPA has tried to strengthen and improve a rule, before many of its compliance dates. This has complicated the approach to certain aspects of the LCRR, such as Lead Service Line Inventory (LSLI) efforts because the LCRI proposes to make some changes to the inventory requirements. The LCRI is currently in the draft stage, with comments due in early February. EPA is planning to finalize the rule in October 2024 and extend the compliance dates for most of the requirements that were initially placed in LCRR. This is not the case for the LSLI requirement, which is still due in October 2024. A bit confusing? Let’s take a look at some key elements, though as we all know, the details involved with lead and drinking water often need painstaking review and consideration.
The LCRI proposed rule contains several key initiatives that EPA believes will improve upon the LCRR including:
- Enhanced requirements around Lead Service Line Inventories including more regular updates and adding lead service line connectors to the inventory, plus additional requirements to confirm non-lead status.
- Full Lead Service Line Removal (LSLR) within ten years.
- Modeling the tap sampling requirements after those that Michigan deployed a few years ago that involve using the highest lead result from 1st and 5th liter sample draws.
- Lowering the lead action level from 15 parts per billion (ppb) to 10 ppb.
- Requiring systems with multiple action level exceedance to enhance public outreach and make filters available to the public.
In addition, EPA took state’s implementation concerns with LCRR Specifically, EPA matched the lead testing in schools sampling procedure with its 3Ts Sampling Guidance that schools routinely use. There were also some changes to the “Find and Fix” provisions, which are being renamed and as well as changes to the small system flexibility options.
As with any new rule proposal challenges also lie within the details, and some of the items we are concerned about include:
- Adding connectors into the inventory requirements at this relatively late stage when many systems have already started or completed inventory efforts.
- Requiring pipe loop studies to evaluate corrosion control in more circumstances than necessary, as these studies are difficult, time consuming and expensive to conduct and may not yield better study results.
- Not fully allowing for an alternative approach to Optimum Corrosion Control Treatment (OCCT) similar to the variance that Denver Water received in 2019.
The bottom line is that this rule will still be more challenging than the current lead and copper rule for water systems to comply with and states to oversee. There is a significant need for guidance and training on this rule and its many new requirements. States also need database capabilities to manage all the information and compliance data that will be needed to support implementing this rule.
EPA also estimates that LCRI will involve 38 new reviews by states, the need to develop and utilize at least eight new templates and five new system-state consultations. LCRI will require significant new resources to implement. Colorado implemented several new rules the last decade involving disinfection, water haulers, storage tanks, backflow prevention and cross connection control, and the revised total coliform rule without adding program resources for implementation. However, with LCRI coming in the same year as the new PFAS rule and Consumer Confidence Rule (CCR) revisions, the division must obtain additional resources to support maintaining primacy into the future.
As always, we will be engaging stakeholders in developing the LCRI rule for Colorado. Fortunately, we learned a lot from moving forward with adopting LCRR and can bring that knowledge to bear on the LCRI rulemaking process. We will work to identify assistance, policy and training needs and strive to help water systems meet the LCRI requirements as best we can considering our funding and resource levels. I suggest that water systems learn about the new draft LCRI rule and take steps to prepare your water system for it. Specifically, will your system be impacted by the changed sampling requirements and lower lead action level? How will your system respond to the requirements involving any test result above the action level? Getting in front of this now is the best approach to keeping tap water safe for your customers.
Thank you.
➽ Ron Falco, P.E. Safe Drinking Water Program Manager
