Lead & Copper Rule Revisions, Lead & Copper Rule Improvements
EPA published the final Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) in the Federal Register on January 15, 2021. The final rule included several new provisions and changes to the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) to support the reduction of lead in drinking water, including requiring public water supplies to identify and make public the locations of lead, non-lead, and unknown service lines through a service line inventory.
On March 12, 2021, EPA published a notice that impacts implementation for the LCRR. The notice proposed to delay the effective date of the LCRR until December 16, 2021, and proposed to delay the compliance date to October 16, 2024.
Concurrently, the EPA developed rulemaking to strengthen key elements of the LCRR. EPA published the final Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) in the Federal Register on October 30, 2024. The final rule requires drinking water systems across the country to identify and replace lead pipes within 10 years. The LCRI also requires more rigorous testing of drinking water and a lower threshold requiring communities to take action to protect people from lead exposure in water. In addition, the final rule improves communication within communities so that families are better informed about the risk of lead in drinking water, the location of lead pipes, and plans for replacing them.
All public water supply systems classified as community water systems (CWSs) and non-transient non-community (NTNC) water systems were required to submit their initial service line inventories to the Iowa DNR by October 16, 2024 using the templates available below. The templates included all information required by the Iowa DNR for service line inventories.
By the LCRI compliance date 11/1/2027, systems are required to submit an updated baseline inventory. Systems will also be required to submit annual updates to this inventory until all lead or GRR service lines are replaced and all lead status unknown lines are identified. Updates are coming soon to the Iowa Drinking Water Data Portal to allow systems in the future to update their inventories online in lieu of spreadsheets. We will make an announcement when this Service Line Inventory Manager feature is live in the portal.
System with less than 10,000 service lines should use the Iowa Service Line Inventory Small File (3,5 MB). Systems with 10,000 or more service lines should use the Iowa Service Line Inventory Large File (57.7 MB). The Large File (57.7 MB) may take a few minutes to download.
Please email LCRR@dnr.iowa.gov if you are unable to open the Excel file.
In 1986, Congress amended the SDWA to prohibit the use of pipes, solder or flux that are not “lead free” in public water systems or plumbing in facilities providing water for human consumption. At the time, lead free was defined as solder and flux with no more than 0.2 percent lead and pipes with no more than 8.0 percent lead.
In 1996, Congress further amended the SDWA to prohibit the use of pipe and plumbing fittings and fixtures that are not lead free in the installation and repair of any public water system or plumbing in a facility providing water for human consumption. The 1996 amendments also required lead free plumbing fittings and fixtures (endpoint devices) to be in compliance with a lead leaching standard.
States were required to enforce the lead ban by June of 1988.
If a home was constructed after 1988 in Iowa, it is expected that the service line for that home was constructed using material other than lead. Public water supply systems developing their lead service line inventories may designate homes built after 1988 as not having a lead service line in their inventory.
Local ordinances or codes may also provide a time frame that can be used in service line material determinations.
In February of 2022, the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA) held a series of eight 90-minute online sessions about various topics related to lead service line inventory work. Community and non-transient non-community public water supply systems are required to submit service line inventories as a result of the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions. Resources from these sessions can be found on ASDWA’s website, or can be accessed through the table below.
ASDWA Lead Service Line Symposium
Topic of ASDWA's Lead Service Line Symposium Session
There are additional resources about lead that can educate public water supply systems and the public on steps that can be taken. Some of these resources are shared here.
The EPA'sLead-Free Certification Marks documentprovides descriptions of the certification marks on various types of pipes and plumbing fixtures, in compliance with the Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act of 2011.
The EPA's Revised Lead and Copper Rule webpage provides information, including a guidance document for developing and maintaining a service line inventory.
