Lynn Thorp - National Campaigns Director

The purpose of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) is to reduce lead and copper at the tap. EPA’s proposed revisions to the LCR make significant changes to the aspects related to lead. EPA is accepting comments on the proposal until February 13, 2020. This is the second in a series of blog posts on specific aspects of EPA’s proposal. Read Part 1 here.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed long-awaited revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR). The LCR is a National Primary Drinking Water Regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Its purpose is to reduce lead and copper at the tap in drinking water provided by regulated Public Water Systems. This is the first part in a series. Read part 2 here.

The Trump/Wheeler Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is dismantling critical parts of the Clean Water Act one by one. Cumulatively these are the most serious threat to our nation’s bedrock environmental law in its history. If these administration attacks are finalized, the Clean Water Act could be severely weakened. Since the Trump administration is parceling out these assaults, it can be hard to see the full picture. So we wanted to take a step back and explain was is at stake for the rule of law, the Clean Water Act, and, most importantly, our health and the health of our water.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a plan that summarizes ongoing activity, affirms commitments the agency made in May 2018, and announces several new initiatives. The  “PFAS Action Plan” is an exhaustive review of what EPA is doing and commits to some new initiatives.

Given the urgency around PFAS chemicals it is still literally the least EPA can do.

Yesterday I received what might be the most fantastical press release the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Public Engagement has released in a while. It said that EPA is advancing President Trump’s Infrastructure Agenda through investments in water infrastructure, which is interesting because there hasn’t been any news about a new infrastructure agenda or any new financing programs for water projects. 

Today’s business –as-usual announcement is jarring given the federal government budget impasse and partial shutdown. “Partial” hardly applies to the current situation as it pertains to EPA. Nearly 95% of EPA staff in the Washington, D.C. area and around the country are considered “non-essential” and are not working

Forty-two years ago today, on October 18, 1972, the U.S. Congress passed the Clean Water Act. Clean Water Action was founded that same year to help push for final passage of the law and to work for ongoing clean water protections. 

There is alot going on. But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Do-Nothing proposal around chemical leaks and spills into water deserves attention.

Imagine living near an industrial facility with aboveground storage tanks and not knowing what is in those tanks.  What if hazardous chemicals were stored in those tanks and that leaks or spills could contaminate a lake where you fish or swim, or a river that is also your drinking water source.  Wouldn’t you want to know that water in your community is protected?

They call it the Magna Carta of environmental laws; the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is the foundation for landmark health and environmental protections like the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act. NEPA is what gives any person or community group a voice on projects that can impact our health and well-being. It's what requires governments and developers to slow down and consider public concerns.