When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the final Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) under the previous administration, the Agency was sued in January 2021 by NRDC and several other groups and State Attorney Generals. In early December 2022, NRDC and Environmental Justice reported that EPA staff, in response to the lawsuit, told a federal Court that it intends to propose revisions to the LCRR (via the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) rule) by September 2023 and publish the final LCRI before October 2024 (the deadline for the lead service line inventory).
Here are links to the two posted articles:
NRDC:
https://www.nrdc.org/media/2022/221209-0
Earth Justice:
https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2022/epa-to-reconsider-stronger-rules-for-lead-in-drinking-water
Background:
On January 15, 2021 the final LCRR was published in the Federal Register. On January 20, 2021 the Biden Administration issued a Regulatory Freeze to allow Federal agencies an opportunity to review recent regulations, including the LCRR. EPA delayed the effective date of the LCR Revisions to December 16, 2021 and delayed the compliance deadline until October 16, 2024.
On December 16, 2021 EPA published a notice in the Federal Register that the LCRR will go into effect to support the development service line material inventories (of both the publicly owned and privately owned portions) by October 16, 2024. The December 16, 2021 Federal Register notice also indicated that EPA plans to develop a new proposed rulemaking (the LCRI) to strengthen key elements of the rule.
