AWWA statement on filing of opening brief for LCRI petition

Today, the American Water Works Association filed its opening brief in its Petition for Review of the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements. The Association issued the following statement.

AWWA shares EPA’s desire to replace lead service lines on both public and private property, and to accomplish this monumental undertaking as quickly as feasible. However, the proposed Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) does not support this shared goal.

Our opening brief in AWWA’s petition for review of the LCRI emphasizes three areas of concern:

First, AWWA is concerned the rule asserts that if a water system can “access” a lead service line on private property, it has “control” of that service line. This assertion is incorrect and has the effect of expanding the scope of responsibility for a public water system beyond what it can enforce.

“Practically speaking, equating ‘control’ with ‘access’ would expand or contract the scope of a water system’s responsibilities (and with it, EPA’s jurisdiction) like an accordion any time a property owner, tenant, or third party granted or subsequently withheld any kind of ‘access’ to privately owned service lines,” the brief explains. “The scope of the system subject to EPA regulation and system operator responsibility cannot be ever shifting based on the whims of third parties.”

Second, the LCRI introduces a ten-year timeline for lead service lines to be removed, absent a special exemption. The logistical, labor, supply chain, and technical realities of complete lead service line removal and replacement nationwide, in small communities and large, make a ten-year window implausible.

Third, EPA dramatically underestimates the nationwide cost of lead service line replacement. Even with federal and state infrastructure loans, the cost of lead service line replacement will be borne by communities and their water customers.

“Most federal and state funding comes in the form of loans that water systems must repay, which are repaid with funds obtained from customer charges or water rates,” the brief explains. “While these funding sources can be useful to reduce household burdens, their impacts are marginal and limited to the subset of systems that are capable of accessing these funds.”

AWWA is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to return the rule to EPA to create a final regulation that protects public health and is legal, feasible and affordable to implement.

We remain committed – regardless of what regulation is in place — to strong protections today as we work toward a future in which lead service lines are replaced in their entirety across the United States.

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Established in 1881, the American Water Works Association is the largest nonprofit, scientific and educational association dedicated to managing and treating water, the world’s most vital resource. With approximately 50,000 members, AWWA provides solutions to improve public health, protect the environment, strengthen the economy and enhance our quality of life.