SEATTLE – Monday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $28,650,000 from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to help Oregon identify and replace lead service lines, preventing exposure to lead in drinking water, the agency stated in a media release.
Lead can cause a range of serious health impacts, including irreversible harm to brain development in children, the agency says.
To protect children and families, President Biden has committed to replacing every lead pipe in the country. Today’s announcement, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and available through EPA’s successful Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, takes another major step to advance this work and environmental justice, and bolsters the Administration’s Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan and EPA’s Get the Lead Out Initiative.
Working collaboratively, EPA and the State Revolving Funds are advancing the President’s Justice40 Initiative to ensure "that 40% of overall benefits from certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution," the EPA stated.
Lead exposure disproportionately affects communities of color and low-income families. The total funding announced through this program to date is expected to replace up to 1.7 million lead pipes nationwide, securing clean drinking water for countless families.
“Lead in drinking water is a public health crisis that must be addressed so people can trust what comes out of their tap,” said EPA Region 10 Administrator Casey Sixkiller. “This funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides Oregon a tremendous opportunity to make progress on eliminating a significant source of lead in drinking water. Permanently removing aging - and all together outdated - water infrastructure is a crucial step toward strengthening public health.”
“This federal investment in health and environmental justice out will help to ensure Oregonians can count on clean and safe drinking water each time they turn on the faucet,” Senator Wyden said. “I’m gratified the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that I fought to pass continues to produce such significant benefits for our state, and I’ll keep working to ensure Oregon continues to get our fair share from this landmark law.”
“Oregonians in every corner of the state must be able to turn on the tap without fear of lead contamination in their drinking water,” Senator Merkley said. “These federal funds will help identify and replace lead pipes, which is critical to improving our water infrastructure systems—a top concern I hear about in the town halls I hold in every corner of Oregon, especially in rural areas, low-income communities, and communities of color. I’ll continue to do all I can to minimize the risk of lead exposure and ensure every community in Oregon and across the U.S. has reliable access to safe, clean drinking water.”
“I’m pleased to see more than $28 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law coming to Oregon to identify and remove dangerous lead pipes and protect Oregonians from contaminated drinking water.,” said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici. “Lead pipes are a serious hazard to the health of Oregon families and disproportionately affect underserved communities, and children are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of lead exposure. This funding will make our communities safer for some of the most vulnerable Oregonians.”
“This is a welcome announcement that will help countless families and businesses across the state access clean drinking water for generations to come,” said Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer. “I’m glad more federal funding is coming to Oregon under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and I’ll keep working to reinvest Oregonians’ hard-earned tax dollars into much-needed infrastructure projects.”
President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests a historic $15 billion to identify and replace lead service lines. The law mandates that 49% of funds provided through the DWSRF General Supplemental Funding and DWSRF Lead Service Line Replacement Funding must be provided as grants and forgivable loans to disadvantaged communities, a crucial investment for communities that have been underinvested in for too long. EPA projects a national total of 9 million lead services lines across the country, based on data collected from the updated 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment. The funding announced today will be provided specifically for lead service line identification and replacement and will help every state and territory fund projects to remove lead pipes and reduce exposure to lead from drinking water. This Lead Service Line-specific formula allows states to receive financial assistance commensurate with their need as soon as possible, furthering public health protection nationwide. To ensure that funding is used for lead service line related activities, LSLR allotments are based on need — meaning that states with more projected lead service lines receive proportionally more.
Alongside the funding announced Monday, EPA is also releasing a memorandum that clarifies how states can use this and other funding to most effectively reduce exposure to lead in drinking water.
Additionally, EPA has developed new outreach documents to help water systems educate their customers on drinking water issues, health impacts of lead exposure, service line ownership, and how customers can support the identification of potential lead service lines in their homes.
To learn about the intended uses of the SRFs in Oregon and to see how prior years’ funding has been used, visit here.
Monday’s allotments are based on EPA’s updated 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment including an assessment of the one-time update submissions.
"To date, this is the best available data collected and assessed on service line materials in the United States," the EPA says. "Later this summer, EPA will release an addendum to the 7th DWINSA Report to Congress which will include the updated lead service line projections. EPA anticipates initiating data collection, which will include information on lead service lines, for the 8th DWINSA in 2025."
For more information, including state-by-state allotment of 2024 funding, and a breakdown of EPA’s lead Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, visit EPA’s Drinking Water website.