An October 22 EPA memorandum that interpreted new fire hydrants to be subject to “lead-free” standards beginning in January is drawing pushback from the drinking water community, with AMWA and others warning the ruling could leave communities with millions of dollars worth of unusable hydrant inventories.
EPA’s finding was included within a 14-page interpretation of the “Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act” (P.L. 111-380), which President Obama signed into law in early 2011 and is slated to take effect on January 4, 2014. The legislation will reduce the amount of lead in pipes and plumbing fixtures that deliver potable water from 8 percent to a weighted average of 0.25 percent, and was based on state laws that had previously been enacted in California, Maryland, and Vermont. Those state laws have been interpreted to exclude fire hydrants from the lower lead standards, and the congressional record shows no evidence that lawmakers intended the the federal law to apply to hydrants, either.
But EPA’s summary of the statute, which the agency released on October 22, interpreted fire hydrants to be subject to the law’s lower lead-free standard because “fire hydrants can be, and are, used in emergency situations to provide drinking water when there are disruptions to the normal operations of the drinking water distribution system.” If this finding holds, then utilities’ existing inventories of non-qualifying hydrants may not be legally installed after January 4.
In response, AMWA and other water utility organizations wrote separately to Congress and EPA in early November to request, at a minimum, the law’s application to hydrants be delayed and subject to a formal rulemaking process so the agency can weigh the costs against potential public health benefits. Especially because there had been no previous expectation of hydrants falling under the law, EPA’s last-minute finding would leave communities with barely two months to prepare for the new standards – as opposed to the three-year grace period Congress wrote into the statute. AMWA has also been in contact privately with congressional staff to share our concerns and encourage intervention.
EPA has responded by scheduling a November 25 stakeholder webinar on the issue. Based on the outcome of this event and subsequent EPA actions, AMWA will determine what additional actions may be necessary.