UPDATE: In October 2024—10 years after NRDC and community partners started the fight against the water crisis in Flint, Michigan—the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the Lead and Copper Improvements Rule, which requires that nearly every lead water pipe in the country be removed within the next 10 years. In 2020, NRDC, along with partner groups and 10 state attorneys general, had challenged the EPA’s lead regulations, deeming them inadequate and illegal. This is a monumental victory for public health, as there is no safe level of lead. The rule—which is the first significant new protections on lead in water in more than three decades—also requires water utilities and cities to establish better lead testing requirements and mandates a complete inventory of lead water pipes.
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