Lead Drinking-Water Pipes Must Be Replaced Nationwide, E.P.A. Says

The Biden administration unveiled on Tuesday a landmark rule that would require water utilities to replace virtually every lead pipe in the country within 10 years, tackling a major source of a neurotoxin that is particularly dangerous to infants and children.

President Biden is scheduled to visit Wisconsin to tout the new policy, which is widely seen as popular in industrial Midwestern states that are expected to play a major role in deciding the presidential election next month. Replacing lead pipes nationwide could also create jobs. Vice President Kamala Harris has also called for replacing lead pipes, an issue especially important for underserved communities, a priority.

“The President understands the urgency of getting lead out of communities because he and Vice President Harris know that ensuring everyone has access to clean water is a moral imperative,” Michael S. Regan, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said.

Lead poisoning can cause irreversible damage to the nervous system and the brain and poses a particular risk to infants and children, impairing their cognitive development and causing behavioral disorders. Service lines, the lead pipes that bring water into homes, are thought to be a major source of lead exposure for children. (Lead-based paint, sometimes found in older buildings, is another.)

The dangers of lead contamination came into sharp relief in Flint, Mich., a decade ago. A change in the water source in 2014, coupled with inadequate treatment and testing, caused high amounts of lead and Legionella bacteria to leach into the tap water of about 100,000 residents.

The new rule imposes the strictest limits on lead in drinking water since federal standards were first set decades ago.