A new EPA grant program designed to help communities and low-income homeowners replace lead service lines (LSLs) has received $10 million in funding in the FY18 omnibus appropriations bill that was approved by Congress and signed by the president on March 23. AMWA supported creation of the new grant program when Congress considered it in 2016.
Section 2105 of the WIIN Act, passed in 2016, authorized EPA to spend up to $300 million over five years on grants to help communities offset costs associated with replacing lead service lines, with priority given to low-income communities or those which have exceeded EPA’s lead action level within the previous three years. Grant funds may not be used on partial lead service line replacements, but communities may use grant funds to cover the cost of replacing the private service line of a low-income household when the public portion of the line is simultaneously replaced.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) introduced the legislation in 2016 after consulting with AMWA, and the association subsequently offered its support for the bill that was later folded into the WIIN Act. Congress had not appropriated funds to make the program operational until passage of the omnibus bill, but the $10 million in funding just approved comes with a requirement that EPA brief lawmakers on program implementation prior to publishing a request for applications.
The total number of LSLs currently in use in the US is unknown, but EPA estimates there are between 6.5 million to greater than 10 million homes that have service lines that are at least partially made of lead. Replacing these lines has proven to be difficult, primarily due to cost. EPA estimates the cost of one LSL replacement can range between $2500 to over $8000. This puts the total cost of replacing LSLs throughout the United States at between $16 and $80 billion. The appropriation for this program in the omnibus bill means that grant funding could be available as early as this year.