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Ground Water and Drinking Water
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Revised Lead and Copper Rule

Lead and Copper Rule Revisions Service Line Inventory Guidance

On August 4, 2022, EPA released Guidance for Developing and Maintaining a Service Line Inventory to support water systems with their efforts to develop inventories and to provide states with needed information for oversight and reporting to EPA. The guidance provides essential information to help water systems comply with the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions requirement to prepare and maintain an inventory of service line materials by October 16, 2024. Specifically, EPA’s Lead Service Line Inventory guidance:

  • Provides best practices for inventory development and communicating information to the public.
  • Includes a template for water systems, states, and Tribes to use or adapt to create their own inventory.
  • Contains case studies on developing, reviewing, and communicating about inventories.
  • Highlights the importance of prioritizing inventory development in disadvantaged communities and where children live and play.

EPA is harmonizing regulatory requirements with unprecedented funding through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to make rapid progress on removing harmful lead from America’s drinking water.   

Guidance for Developing and Maintaining a Service Line Inventory (pdf) (6.79 MB, August 4, 2022, 816-B-22-001)

Inventory Template (xlsx) (1.53 MB, August 4, 2022)

Press Release

Webinar - On August 10, 2022, EPA hosted a webinar: Getting the Lead Out: Guidance for Developing Service Line Inventories and Funding Information on BIL. This webinar provided an overview of EPA’s Guidance for Developing and Maintaining a Service Line Inventory and provide information on addressing lead with the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). A recording of the webinar is available here. 

EPA Announces Intent to Strengthen LCR

December 16, 2021 - EPA announces the development of a new regulation, Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI), to better protect communities from exposure to lead in drinking water. Learn more.

Lead and Copper Rule Revisions Virtual Engagements

EPA hosts virtual engagements to obtain further public input on EPA’s revision to the Lead and Copper rule (LCRR), particularly from individuals and communities that are most at-risk of exposure to lead in drinking water.  Learn more. 

EPA Requests Additional Input 

On June 10, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a final rule to extend the effective date of the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) Revisions to December 16, 2021. This action represents the next step in EPA’s effort to take the time necessary to review the LCR Revisions and ensure that it protects families and communities, particularly those that have been disproportionately impacted by lead in drinking water. This action allows the agency to continue conducting virtual engagements to gather valuable input from communities that have been impacted by lead and to seek feedback from national water associations, Tribes and Tribal communities, and EPA’s state co-regulators. This action also extends the revised LCR’s compliance deadline to October 16, 2024 to ensure that drinking water systems and primacy states continue to have the full three years provided by the Safe Drinking Water Act to take actions needed for regulatory compliance. For more information, visit:  https://www.regulations.gov/docket/EPA-HQ-OW-2017-0300.

  • Federal Register Notice: Lead and Copper Rule Revisions; Delay of Effective and Compliance Dates
  • Questions and Answers
  • Press Release: EPA to Request Additional Input on the Lead and Copper Rule

Revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule

EPA’s new Lead and Copper Rule better protects children and communities from the risks of lead exposure by better protecting children at schools and child care facilities, getting the lead out of our nation’s drinking water, and empowering communities through information. Improvements under the new rule include:

  • Using science-based testing protocols to find more sources of lead in drinking water.
  • Establishing a trigger level to jumpstart mitigation earlier and in more communities.
  • Driving more and complete lead service line replacements.
  • For the first time, requiring testing in schools and child care facilities.
  • Requiring water systems to identify and make public the locations of lead service lines

 For more information visit the Federal Register visit https://www.regulations.gov:  Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2017-0300.  

Supporting Materials 

  • Federal Register Notice : National Primary Drinking Water Regulations: Final Lead and Copper Rule Revisions 
  • Press Release: EPA Finalizes Historic Action to Better Protect Children’s Health
  • Virtual  Event:  Video Recording
  • Fact Sheet: LCR Overview
  • Infographic:  Improving Lead Sampling to Better Protect Public Health
  • Infographic:  Hometown, USA. Understanding How the New Lead and Copper Rule Reduces Lead
    in Your Community
  • Infographic: Large City USA. Understanding How the New Lead and Copper Rule Reduces Lead in Your Community
  • Document: Funding and Technical Resources for Lead Service Line Replacement in Small and Disadvantaged Communities
  • Reference Guide for PWSs: Side by Side Comparison of the Current LCR and Final 
  • Website:  Funding and Case Studies on Lead Service Line Replacement
  • Model: Safewater LCR Database and Associated Files
  • Fact Sheet: Understanding the Current LCR
  • Information on Proposed Rule
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Last updated on December 7, 2022
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