LENEXA, KAN. (JULY 23, 2024) – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister joined leaders from the city of Lincoln, Nebraska, as they kicked off the first phase of their Lincoln Lead Water Service Line Replacement work.
The event was held at a residence in Lincoln’s Woods Park neighborhood. The home is one of the initial 200 properties within the city to have its water service line replaced at no cost to the property owner. Lincoln chose these initial 200 homes using EPA-recommended criteria, including property records, blood lead levels in children, social vulnerability data, and the risk of lead exposure due to the amount of lead in service lines.
“Today, I had the chance to see firsthand how EPA’s historic water infrastructure funding is improving the everyday lives of Nebraskans,” McCollister said. “We are thankful for the opportunity to celebrate this milestone with Lincoln and look forward to all the important work to follow. Lincoln’s commendable and important steps to reduce lead exposure serve as a model for communities across our region.”
“Thanks to historic federal resources and our strong partnerships with the EPA and State of Nebraska, the City of Lincoln is leading the way toward making every water service line in our community free of lead and providing safe, healthy water for our children and families for years to come,” said Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird.
The lead service line replacement program is part of the city’s Lead Safe Lincoln initiative and is funded through Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocations to the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DW SRF). Through a $32.6 million DW SRF loan, Lincoln plans to replace about 2,000 service lines over the next five years.
In May 2024, EPA announced the latest allotment of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding – over $28 million – to Nebraska for lead service line identification and replacement. Over the past three years, over $85 million dollars in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for lead service line replacements has been allotted to Nebraska’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.
Background
Lead can cause a range of serious health impacts, including irreversible harm to brain development in children.
To protect children and families, President Biden has committed to replacing every lead pipe in the country. Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and available through EPA’s successful Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), EPA’s $3 billion funding announcement signals another major step to advance this work and the administration’s commitment to environmental justice. This funding builds on the administration’s Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan and EPA’s Get the Lead Out Initiative.
Working collaboratively, EPA and the State Revolving Funds are advancing the President’s Justice40 Initiative to ensure that 40% of overall benefits from certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. Lead exposure disproportionately affects communities of color and low-income families. The total funding announced through this program to date is expected to replace up to 1.7 million lead pipes nationwide, securing clean drinking water for American families.
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