President Biden speaks at an event at the Milwaukee Department of Public Works in Milwaukee, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, to discuss his administration’s progress in replacing lead pipes in Wisconsin and across the country.
WASHINGTON — A decade after the Flint, Michigan, water crisis raised alarms about the continuing dangers of lead in tap water, President Biden on Tuesday set a 10-year deadline for cities across the nation to replace their lead pipes, finalizing an aggressive approach aimed at ensuring that drinking water is safe for all Americans.
Biden announced the final Environmental Protection Agency rule during a visit to the swing state of Wisconsin in the final month of a tight presidential campaign. The announcement highlights an issue — safe drinking water — that Kamala Harris has prioritized as vice president and during her presidential campaign. The new rule supplants a looser standard set by former President Donald Trump’s administration that did not include a universal requirement to replace lead pipes.
“Folks, what is a government for if it cannot protect the public health?” Biden asked a crowd of union members at a cavernous Department of Public Works warehouse in Milwaukee. The city has the fifth-highest number of lead pipes in the nation, according to the EPA.
Decades after the dangers of lead pipes were clear, more than 9 million lead pipes remain in use, a fact Biden called shameful.
“We’re finally addressing an issue that should’ve been addressed a long time ago in this country,” he said. “We are showing up as a partner to get it done.”
EPA Administrator Michael Regan said Milwaukee is one of many cities across the country taking steps to remove lead pipes from their drinking water. Officials are using money from the federal infrastructure law to accelerate lead-pipe replacement work and meet a goal to remove all lead pipes within 10 years, down from an initial 60-year timeframe.
“Everyone wants this lead out,” Regan told reporters. “The science has been clear for
