States, Utilities Urge New Federal Funding To Ease LCRI’s Cost Burden

Water utility groups and state regulators are warning that EPA’s newly finalized Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) will require as much as $90 billion in new federal funding if local systems are to fulfill its mandate to replace nearly all lead service lines (LSLs) within 10 years -- far above the agency’s own cost estimates. Replacing nearly all LSLs in a decade is an “enormous undertaking,” Alan Roberson, executive director of the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators, told...