815F07003
United States
Environmental protection
FACT SHEET: Revisions to the Regulations
Controlling Lead in Drinking Water
EPA is promulgating a rule that makes several targeted regulatory revisions to the existing national
primary drinking water regulations (NPDWRs) for lead and copper. The purpose of the Lead and
Copper Rule (LCR) is to protect public water system consumers from exposure to lead and copper in
drinking water. The revisions to the LCR will:
• enhance the implementation of the LCR in the areas of monitoring, treatment, customer
awareness, lead service line replacement; and
• improve compliance with the public education requirements of the LCR and ensure drinking
water consumers receive meaningful, timely, and useful information needed to help them limit
their exposure to lead in drinking water.
Questions and Answers
What are the basic requirements of the Lead and Copper Rule?
The LCR has four basic requirements: (1) require water suppliers to optimize their treatment system to
control corrosion in customer's plumbing; (2) determine tap water levels of lead and copper for
customers who have lead service lines or lead-based solder in their plumbing system; (3) rule out the
source water as a source of significant lead levels; and, (4) if lead action levels are exceeded, require the
suppliers to educate their customers about lead and suggest actions they can take to reduce their
exposure to lead through public notices and public education programs. If a water system, after
installing and optimizing corrosion control treatment, continues to fail to meet the lead action level, it
must begin replacing the lead service lines under its ownership.
Who will be affected by these revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule?
The entities potentially affected by this final rule are public water systems that are classified as
community water systems (e.g., systems that provide water to year-round residents in places like homes
or apartment buildings) or non-transient, non-community water systems (e.g., systems that provide
water to people in locations such as schools, office buildings, restaurants, etc.); state primacy agencies;
and local and tribal governments.
How do these revisions change monitoring requirements?
The rule addresses confusion about sample collection by clarifying language that speaks to the number
of samples required and the number of sites from which samples should be collected. The rule also
modifies definitions for monitoring and compliance periods to make it clear that all samples must be
taken within the same calendar year. Finally, the rule adds a new reduced monitoring requirement,
which prevents water systems above the lead action level to remain on a reduced monitoring schedule.
How do these revisions change requirements for water treatment?
The new rule requires water systems to provide advanced notification and gain the approval of the
primacy agency for intended changes in treatment or source water that could increase corrosion of lead.
The primacy agency must approve the planned changes using a process that will allow regulators and
water systems to take as much time as needed to consult about potential problems.
How do these revisions change requirements related to customer awareness?
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While many water utilities indicate that they provide the results of monitoring to customers, there is no
requirement in the regulations for them to do so. All utilities must now provide a notification of tap
water monitoring results for lead to owners and/or occupants of homes and buildings who consume
water from the taps that are part of the utility's sampling program.
How do these revisions change lead service line replacement requirements?
The current regulations allow utilities to c onsider lead service lines that test below the action level as
"replaced" for the purposes of compliance. The new rule adds a requirement for utilities to reconsider
previously "tested-out" lines when resuming lead service line replacement programs. This provision
only applies to systems that had: (1) initiated a lead service line replacement program; (2) complied with
the lead action level for two consecutive monitoring periods and discontinued the lead service line
replacement program; and (3) subsequently were re-triggered into lead service line replacement. All
previously "tested-out" lines would then have to be tested again or added back into the sampling pool
and considered for replacement.
How do these revisions change the public education requirements?
EPA requires water systems to deliver public education materials after a lead action level exceedance.
The new rule changes the content of the message to be provided to consumers, changes how the
materials are delivered to consumers, and the timeframe in which materials must be delivered. Also,
there are changes to the delivery requirements which include additional organizations that systems must
partner with to disseminate the message to at-risk populations as well as changes in the ways
information is disseminated to ensure water systems reach consumers when there is an action level
exceedance. The new rule also requires educational statements about lead in drinking water to be
included in all Consumer Confidence Reports. Many of the changes to the public education
requirements were based on recommendations from the National Drinking Water Advisory Council.
How much do these revisions cost water suppliers and consumers?
The total annual direct costs to water systems are estimated between $5.4 and $5.7 million. The
majority of these costs to water systems are from the monitoring and public education requirements of
the revisions. For primacy agencies, the annual direct costs are estimated between $471,000 and
$657,000. The majority of the costs to primacy agencies arise from the review and approval
requirement for treatment changes included in the revisions. The initial one time costs for water system
and State personnel to familiarize themselves with the rule changes and begin implementation are
approximately $11 million for water systems and $1.7 million for States.
How did EPA identify the proposed changes to the LCR?
In early 2004, EPA began a wide-range review of implementation of the Lead and Copper Rule to
determine if there was a national problem related to elevated levels of lead in drinking water. The
review identified several areas in which there was confusion about implementation in the existing
regulations. As part of its national review, EPA also held expert workshops to discuss the effectiveness
of the regulations. After reviewing findings from the workshops and implementation review, EPA
released a Drinking Water Lead Reduction Plan in March 2005. This plan outlined short-term and long-
term goals for improving implementation of the Lead and Copper Rule, including several targeted
changes to the regulations, which are now being promulgated.
What are the longer-term goals of the Drinking Water Lead Reduction Plan?
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EPA identified a number of issues that will be reviewed as part of potentially more comprehensive
revisions to the rule. The issues require additional data collection, research, analysis, and stakeholder
involvement to support decisions. The issues include, but are not limited to, requirements for
consecutive systems, and broader revisions to monitoring and lead service line replacement
requirements.
How can I get more information?
The final rule, EPA's Drinking Water Lead Reduction Plan, and other supporting information are
available on EPA's website at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/lead. For additional information about the
final rule, contact Jeffrey Kempic (phone (202) 564-4880; e-mail: kempic.Jeffrey (fflepa.gov) or Eric
Burneson (phone: (202) 564-5250; e-mail: burneson.eric(fflepa.gov).
Office of Water (4607M) EPA -815-F-07-03 September 2007 www.epa.gov/safewater
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