Help strengthen the Lead and Copper Rule

Urge the EPA to swiftly implement these crucial protections to the Lead and Copper Rule The following advertisement from Earthjustice has been sent to you via Mother Jones' email list. Mother Jones is a nonprofit, and most of our budget comes from readers like you, but revenue from advertisers helps us produce more of the hard-hitting journalism you expect. We never disclose your information to an advertiser. Mother Jones does not endorse any candidate, political organization, commercial product, or service, and the views expressed in this email do not constitute any endorsement or recommendation by Mother Jones. Urge the EPA to swiftly implement these crucial protections to the Lead and Copper Rule ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [EARTHJUSTICE | BECAUSE THE EARTH NEEDS A GOOD LAWYER]( [Urge the EPA to swiftly implement these crucial improvements to the Lead and Copper Rule.]( [Graphics by Sammy Lee at Earthjustice]( Dear Mother Jones Reader, It’s 2024 — but millions of people across the country still drink water that passes through lead pipes, putting countless communities at risk of harmful lead contamination. After decades of community advocacy, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed changes to the Lead and Copper Rule, which regulates how water systems handle lead in water. But we need to keep the pressure up to make sure the final rule is as strong as possible. [Join Earthjustice, the premier nonprofit public interest environmental law organization, in telling the EPA to adopt provisions that will help decrease exposure from lead in drinking water and strengthen weaker parts of the Lead and Copper Rule.]( Lead service lines naturally corrode when water flows through them. This corrosion causes toxic lead to leach into our faucet water. Exposure to low levels of lead presents significant health risks. Lead is especially dangerous for children, infants, and fetuses. Even in small amounts, it can cause permanent and irreversible harm to the central nervous system, resulting in learning difficulties, hearing and speech impediments, developmental delays, and other lifelong impairments. In adults, exposure can lead to cardiovascular disease, decreased kidney function, and miscarriage. And yet, even though Congress banned the installation of lead pipes in 1986, there are 9 to 12 million lead pipes in use according to EPA. Water to millions of people is still delivered through them, which disproportionately impacts communities of color, the same communities that also are more likely to be exposed to other pollutants. Thankfully, the new rule requires replacement of all lead pipelines in ten years for most water systems, lowers the levels at which water utilities must take other actions to address lead in drinking water, and requires improved water testing. These are welcome changes for communities dealing with lead in water. However, we need EPA to improve their final rule to ensure that the cities with the most lead service lines don’t receive lenient timelines — under the rule, places like Chicago would still have 40 years rather than 10 to replace all their lines. EPA should also ensure that those replacement lines are not made of PVC — the creation of which devastates communities — but instead made from recycled copper. We also need to push EPA to require utilities to pay for lead service line replacement, so that lower wealth families dealing with exposure don’t get stuck with toxic lead lines while affluent communities get safe water. Urge the EPA to be bold and quickly finalize a stronger rule that will fulfill this administration’s goal of removing all lead service lines in America in ten years, and do so without throwing low-wealth communities under the bus. [Personalizing your letters goes far in moments like this — take a moment to talk about your experiences with lead and the importance of clean drinking water to your family and community, and urge EPA to strengthen the weaker parts of this rule.]( [TAKE ACTION]( [Suzanne Novak] . Sincerely, Suzanne Novak Senior Attorney [LEARN MORE]( Earthjustice, 50 California Street, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94111 [Stay up-to-date on Earthjustice news and alerts by signing up for text messages.]( Photo Credits: Graphics by Sammy Lee at Earthjustice © 2024 [Mother Jones]( Mother Jones and its nonprofit publisher, the Foundation for National Progress, do not endorse any political candidate, political organization, commercial product, process, or service, and the views expressed in this communication do not constitute an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by Mother Jones. This message was sent to {EMAIL}. 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