{"id":10064,"date":"2021-03-25T09:36:07","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T14:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/?p=10064"},"modified":"2021-06-24T09:46:14","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T14:46:14","slug":"an-issue-nearly-everyone-agrees-on-its-time-to-fund-lead-pipe-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2021\/03\/25\/an-issue-nearly-everyone-agrees-on-its-time-to-fund-lead-pipe-replacement\/","title":{"rendered":"An issue nearly everyone agrees on: It\u2019s time to fund lead pipe replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joanna Slaney<\/a>, Legislative Director, and Sam Lovell<\/a>, Project Manager.<\/p>\n

As Congress looks to various infrastructure priorities in the coming months to get the country back on track, funding replacement of lead pipes should be an essential part of that effort. Recent polling<\/a> from Black Millennials for Flint, BlueGreen Alliance and EDF demonstrates that there is strong bipartisan support for this initiative across party lines and regions of the country. Funding lead pipe replacement will protect health, create jobs, permanently improve water infrastructure, and reduce health inequities. It\u2019s time for action.<\/p>\n

And we are already seeing movement on this important issue, with legislation in the first few months of the new Congress in both the US House and Senate including lead pipe replacement as a key infrastructure priority.<\/p>\n

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Patchwork of funding has not been enough<\/strong><\/p>\n

More than 9 million homes in the US still get their water from lead service lines (LSLs), the lead pipes connecting buildings to the drinking water main under the street. LSLs can unpredictably release lead into water, threatening children\u2019s brain development and putting adults at higher risk of heart disease.<\/p>\n

The only permanent, long-term solution is to fully replace the pipes. However, typical programs require homeowners to pay if they want their LSL replaced — posing a major equity issue that can result in health disparities as demonstrated<\/a> by an American University and EDF report.<\/p>\n

While some states have made great strides in providing funding to communities to develop programs to alleviate the financial burden of replacement for residents, these efforts have largely been insufficient. Often the funding allows communities to start programs or provide limited reimbursements to certain residents, which is critical, but it does not enable a community to fully finance replacement of its LSLs. In Michigan, which has required all water utilities to replace LSLs, towns and cities are grappling<\/a> with how to fund the effort — and many anticipate significantly increasing water rates.<\/p>\n

A bipartisan win for health, jobs, infrastructure, and equity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fully replacing LSLs must be a priority, and federal funding is necessary to jumpstart and accelerate this effort across the 11,000 communities that still have these pipes.<\/p>\n

Recent polling<\/a> suggests that this is the rare issue that nearly everyone can agree on. The national poll found that:<\/p>\n