EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler avoided answering a question posed during his April 2 appearance before a House Appropriations subcommittee about the agency’s plans for implementing a congressionally authorized grant program to promote the replacement of lead service lines, though an EPA staff member shed additional light on the topic during AMWA’s Water Policy Conference later in the month.
During Administrator Wheeler’s testimony on EPA’s FY20 budget request before the House Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) asked about EPA’s plans for implementing three grant programs authorized by Congress in the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act of 2016. One of those programs would offer funds to help communities and low-income households replace lead service lines or undertake other efforts to remove lead from drinking water. AMWA supported and helped craft the version of the program that was enacted as part of the WIIN Act, and over the past two fiscal years Congress has appropriated $25 million to EPA to get the program up and running. However, to date EPA has not taken any apparent steps to begin soliciting or offering lead service line replacement grants, and the agency recommended eliminating funding for the program in its FY20 budget.
Rep. Lawrence’s question during the April 2 hearing noted that Congress has appropriated dollars for all three new WIIN Act programs, “but the money has not gone out the door.” She asked the administrator to explain the agency’s plans for using the funding.
In response, Wheeler said that “in the coming weeks” EPA planned to “announce the details and allocations” for two of the programs – for providing assistance to small and disadvantaged communities, and for lead testing in schools and child care centers. He said that EPA is “a little slower” in awarding funds for new grant programs compared to established ones, and then repeated his expectation that the agency would move forward with details on “both” programs “in the next few weeks.” Wheeler’s response did not acknowledge the status of the lead reduction program, and Rep. Lawrence did not immediately press him with a follow-up question. So, the present status of the program at EPA remains unclear.
A bit more detail on the lead reduction program was offered later in April during AMWA’s Water Policy Conference. Jennifer McLain, acting director of EPA’s Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, said in response to a question that EPA plans to begin soliciting applications later this year for grants to help communities and low-income homeowners replace lead service lines or undertake other initiatives to reduce the prevalence of lead in drinking water, consistent with the specifications established when Congress created the program in 2016. An EPA website also lists “Reducing Lead in Drinking Water Grant Request for Applications” under a “What’s Next?” column on implementation of the 2016 law.
At this point it remains unknown how exactly EPA will solicit applicants for the lead reduction grants, or whether Congress will continue to fund the program beyond the current fiscal year.