Lead pipes have endangered the health of kids in cities across the United States, drawing attention in recent years in Flint, Michigan, in particular. But Flint is far from alone: There are an estimated 9 million lead pipes carrying drinking water in the United States. Now the Environmental Protection Agency is moving toward the large-scale change this crisis requires. A new proposed rule would require lead pipes to be replaced around the country over the next decade.
President Joe Biden has emphasized the importance of action like this. “We’re replacing every single, solitary lead pipe in America. Hear me?” he said at a June campaign event. “Fewer children are going to die and have mental illness.”
Under the proposal, local utilities would have to dig up and replace the pipes, doing 10% of the pipes in their service areas each year. This is a huge job, and it will require funding over the years, though the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included $15 billion for lead pipe removal. That’s a good start, but this is a job that will take $45 billion to $60 billion, according to estimates.
It’s work that needs to be done.
In Chicago, about 75% of the city’s water pipes are lead—and Illinois law is allowing 50 years to finish replacing them. Kids can’t wait that long.
The new plan “is like a pediatrician’s dream come true,” Mona Hanna-Attisha, a Michigan State University professor and pediatrician who uncovered the Flint water crisis, told The Washington Post. “I am overjoyed on behalf of kids everywhere — kids in Flint, in Newark, Chicago, Milwaukee, Washington, D.C., and Jackson and places we know of and don’t know of.”
The advocacy group Food & Water Watch, though, balanced its appreciation for the progress this move represents with a call for more and faster action. “It is long past time to remove all lead service lines, and no community and no household should be left behind, regardless of ability to pay,” Food & Water Watch’s Mary Grant said in a statement. “Congress must step up to provide funding to replace the entire service line at no cost to impacted households, prioritizing low-income and environmental justice communities.” She specifically called on Congress to “pass the WATER Act to provide a permanent, dedicated source of federal funding at the level that EPA says is necessary to comply with federal water quality regulations.”
The EPA rule will face a public comment period and is expected to be finalized in fall of next year. This could be one more issue hanging on the 2024 presidential election. As we saw after the 2016 election, Republicans rushed to overturn rules put in place in the final months of the Obama administration using the Congressional Review Act, which gives Congress 60 legislative days (as we know, that’s very different from days total, or even regular working days) to pass resolutions blocking new regulations from going into effect. If the EPA doesn’t get this rule out quickly and a Republican is elected president with Republican control of Congress, this desperately needed regulation could be crushed.
There has been a ton of coverage in recent weeks over a streak of poor 2024 polling for Democrats and Target Smart’s Tom Bonier joins us to help us separate the wheat from the chaff. We talk about what to take from these polls and how to balance them against the much more positive election results we’ve seen this year. We also discuss how early voting data continues to evolve and how Sen. Sherrod Brown’s campaign will use Ohio’s recent abortion and marijuana referendums to find new persuadable voters next year.
Mabomba ya risasi yametishia afya ya watoto katika miji kote Marekani, na kuvutia tahadhari katika miaka ya hivi karibuni katika Flint, Michigan, hasa. Flint ni mji wa kwanza nchini Marekani kuwa na mabomba ya risasi ya kuingiza maji ya kunywa. Shirika la Ulinzi wa Mazingira (EPA) limesema kuwa hatua hiyo ya kuanzisha mabadiliko makubwa ya mazingira ni muhimu kwa ajili ya kukabiliana na mgogoro huu. Sheria mpya inayopendekezwa itahitaji mabomba ya risasi kubadilishwa kotekote nchini katika muongo ujao. Rais Joe Biden ametoa wito kwa nchi zote kuunga mkono hatua hiyo. <unk>Tunachukua nafasi ya kila bomba la risasi moja tu nchini Marekani. Unanisikia? "alisema katika tukio la kampeni ya Juni. "Kwa mujibu wa pendekezo hilo, kampuni za huduma za umma za mitaa zitalazimika kuchimba na kubadilisha mabomba, na kufanya 10% ya mabomba katika maeneo yao ya huduma kila mwaka.""" "Hii ni kazi kubwa na itahitaji fedha kwa miaka mingi, ingawa Sheria ya Uwekezaji wa Miundombinu na Kazi ilijumuisha dola bilioni 15 kwa ajili ya kuondoa mabomba ya risasi.""" Hii ni mwanzo mzuri, lakini kazi hii itachukua dola bilioni 45 hadi bilioni 60, kulingana na makadirio. Ni kazi ambayo inahitaji kufanywa. Katika Chicago, karibu 75% ya mabomba ya maji ya jiji ni risasi na sheria ya Illinois inaruhusu miaka 50 kumaliza kubadilisha yao. Watoto hawawezi kungoja kwa muda mrefu hivyo. Mpango huo mpya "ni kama ndoto ya daktari wa watoto inayotimizwa", Mona Hanna-Attisha, profesa wa Chuo Kikuu cha Jimbo la Michigan na daktari wa watoto ambaye alifunua mgogoro wa maji ya Flint, aliiambia The Washington Post. "Ninafurahi sana kwa niaba ya watoto kila mahali - watoto huko Flint, Newark, Chicago, Milwaukee, Washington, DC, na Jackson na maeneo tunayoyajua na ambayo hatujui. ""Kundi la utetezi la Chakula na Maji Watch, hata hivyo, lilipima uthamini wake kwa maendeleo ambayo hatua hii inawakilisha na wito wa hatua zaidi na ya haraka." "Ni wakati wa muda mrefu wa kuondoa mistari yote ya huduma ya risasi, na hakuna jamii na hakuna nyumba inapaswa kushoto nyuma, bila kujali uwezo wa kulipa, "Mary Grant wa Food & Water Watch alisema katika taarifa. "Kongresa lazima iongeze nguvu kutoa fedha za kubadilisha mstari mzima wa huduma bila gharama kwa kaya zilizoathiriwa, ikitoa kipaumbele kwa jamii zenye mapato ya chini na haki ya mazingira. ""Alitoa wito maalum kwa Bunge kupitisha Sheria ya Maji ili kutoa chanzo cha kudumu, maalum cha ufadhili wa shirikisho kwa kiwango ambacho EPA inasema ni muhimu kufuata kanuni za ubora wa maji za shirikisho. """ Hii inaweza kuwa suala jingine linalotegemea uchaguzi wa urais wa 2024. "Wamarekani walianza kupinga sheria zilizowekwa katika miezi ya mwisho ya utawala wa Obama kwa kutumia Sheria ya Mapitio ya Bunge, ambayo inatoa siku 60 za bunge (kama tunavyojua, hiyo ni tofauti sana na siku za jumla, au hata siku za kazi za kawaida) kupitisha maazimio ya kuzuia kanuni mpya kutoka kwa athari.""" Kama EPA haitachukua sheria hii haraka na Republican huchaguliwa rais na udhibiti wa Republican wa Bunge, kanuni hii inayohitajika sana inaweza kuvunjwa. "Hata hivyo, ""katika wiki za hivi karibuni kumekuwa na habari nyingi juu ya uchaguzi mbaya wa 2024 kwa wanademokrasia na Tom Bonier wa Target Smart anajiunga nasi kutusaidia kutenganisha ngano na magugu.""" Tunazungumza juu ya nini cha kuchukua kutoka kwa uchaguzi huu na jinsi ya kuuwekeza dhidi ya matokeo mazuri zaidi ya uchaguzi ambayo tumeona mwaka huu. "Tunajadili pia jinsi data ya kupiga kura mapema inaendelea kubadilika na jinsi kampeni ya Sen. Sherrod Brown itatumia kura za maoni za hivi karibuni za utoaji mimba na bangi za Ohio kupata wapiga kura wapya wa kushawishi mwaka ujao. """