The fight to end lead contamination in drinking water is playing out with high stakes in the Midwest.
The region accounts for a disproportionate share of the roughly 9.2 million lead pipes across the U.S., according to an analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a New York City-based environmental nonprofit.
That is a problem the Biden administration and the EPA sought to solve when they
"The 10-year deadline represents the EPA's best approximation of the fastest feasible service line replacement rate for most systems, and therefore, it is the default deadline," said a spokesperson for the agency, who declined to be identified.
The final EPA rule is "just a big step in the right direction," said Chakena Perry, NRDC senior policy advocate for environmental health.
"In addition to more state and federal appropriations… state and municipal bonds should be made available to pay for full lead service line replacement," she said.
"I want to emphasize the word 'full' because sometimes cities perform partial replacements, which poses a risk of lead leaching into the water," Perry added. "Full replacement is required through the finalized rule, but the finalized rule does not require the water utility to pay for full replacement. We are encouraging local and state leaders to consider that approach."
Bonding for lead service line replacement, she noted, spreads the cost across all of a water utility's customers. Cities like Chicago also need to reduce lead pipe replacement costs (right now, people can be quoted up to $30,000 to replace one lead pipe), and state agencies like the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency need to update their formulas to ensure fair and proportionate funding, Perry said.
Federal funding is available to support replacement efforts. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Joe Biden in 2021 allocates $50 billion for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure upgrades, including $15 billion for lead service line replacement and $11.7 billion for state revolving funds that can also go to lead service line replacement,
But the total cost of replacing identified lead pipes is estimated at about $90 billion by the American Water Works Association, an advocacy group for water utilities. The EPA puts it closer to $30 billion. That doesn't include the 43% of water utilities saying their water lines are composed of "unknown" material that may well include lead, according to the NRDC.
Katherine Miller, Wisconsin's deputy capital finance director, said that in response to concerns about bonding for lead service line replacement on private land, her office has worked with the state's largest bond counsel firms to create a new alternative revenue pledge aligned with current statutes and regulations.
"All bonds related to the lead service line projects are issued on a taxable basis in Wisconsin," she said. "The alternate revenue pledge option can only be used to cover private side replacement costs."
Current law allows municipalities to establish a loan program for property owners for the replacement of lead service lines, Miller said. Loan repayments are secured by a special charge on the property owner's tax bill. To take this path, municipalities have to adopt two ordinances: one establishing the loan program and a mandatory replacement ordinance.
"The property owner loan program must be established and administered by the municipality, not the water utility, unless the utility receives Public Service Commission approval," Miller said. "Revenues from this property owner loan program are then pledged as security for the [state] Safe Drinking Water Loan Program loan."
The Midwest became ground zero for lead pipes through a combination of timing — the growth and industrialization of cities like Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee took off at a time when lead was viewed as highly durable, corrosion resistant and malleable, Perry said — and special interests resisting change when the risks of lead became clear.
"Chicago was a prime example of that," she said. "Our city leaders enshrined… code requiring homes to use lead service lines to connect to our water system, and only allowing licensed plumbers' union members to install those pipes. And so while cities across the country were banning lead pipe installation, we were committed to the installation of lead pipes up until 1986."
Chicago now has roughly 400,000 lead service lines and 118,746 service lines composed of unknown material, according to the NRDC. Mayor Brandon Johnson has joined Milwaukee and Detroit's leadership in the Great Lakes Lead Pipe Partnership.
Flint, Michigan, is a cautionary tale.
The city suffered a lead contamination crisis a decade ago when it ended its service contract with Detroit's water agency while awaiting completion of a regional water pipeline. It began pulling water from the Flint River in the meantime, but didn't treat the water with orthophosphate, which allowed the lead in its pipes to seep into the water supply.
The city's residents experienced elevated blood lead levels, skin rashes and hair loss, among other health issues, according to a
The city ultimately
The crisis led to criminal charges against state officials including the city's state-appointed emergency managers — they have not brought any convictions — and a state-backed
"It's just an example of when you take shortcuts to save a couple of dollars; let's think about who it impacts the most in the long run, and it's mostly low-income communities of color that have to carry the burden of those bad decisions," said the NRDC's Perry.
Chicago has in the past drawn on Community Development Block Grant funds to support lead service line replacement, said Megan Vidis, spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Water Management.
The city now has commitments to receive an EPA Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan, multiple federal earmarks and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding through the state revolving fund.
Chicago also has issued
"Moving forward, DWM will continue to leverage every source of funding available including bonds," she said.
Oak Park, Illinois, eight miles west of Chicago, just developed a first draft of a lead service line replacement plan, and city officials are discussing financing options with the village board, said Deputy Public Works Director Erin Duffy.
It will cost an estimated $12,500 to $15,000 per full lead service line replacement, from the main in the street to the meter in the house. The village of 52,000 has a mix of partial and full lead service lines, totaling about 7,200 altogether, Duffy said.
"We're looking at probably $100 million," she said. "We are looking at state and federal funding. As you can imagine, those are some pretty competitive programs."
Indiana implemented a lead service line replacement program a few years ago, according to Jim McGoff, Indiana Finance Authority chief operations officer and director of environmental programs. McGoff said the program initially involved zero-percent loans, and recently has included grants through funds allocated to the EPA from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
According to a spreadsheet shared with The Bond Buyer, the state provided millions in lead service line removal assistance to Indiana communities in 2024, including $2.399 million to Milton, $6 million to Brownsburg and $7.3 million to Evansville.
"We do foresee water-utility rates increasing dramatically due to the new EPA mandates," McGoff said. "While bonding is an option, water utility rates will still need to be substantially increased to cover costs. Funding from the federal government can help to address those rising utility rates."
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Monday announced that $273 million has gone out to 86 municipalities through the state's
The state has more than 167,000 known lead service lines and will receive an additional $83 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to identify and replace lead service lines, according to a statement from the governor's office.
From 2017 to 2023, Wisconsin offered principal forgiveness to municipalities for lead service line removal, ultimately giving out $85 million to 210 projects, Miller said. But she acknowledged that the state and the federal government can only do so much. The Financing Lead Out of Water Act is stuck in Congress and it "doesn't seem like much action has occurred," she said.
"Bonding to cover costs associated with the removal of lead is an appropriate public policy financing option," Miller said.
"From NRDC's perspective, the presence of lead pipes is a public health crisis, and I would add that it's also an environmental justice issue," said Perry, who noted Chicago has 20 years to replace its lead pipes due to the scale of its problem.
"We're always on the side of sooner rather than later, so we're encouraged by the 10-year replacement timeline that the EPA proposed," she said.
"There are a lot of conversations around how much lead pipe replacement will cost local municipalities," Perry said. "But if we just step back and see how much money we will save
The EPA says there is no safe level of lead in drinking water.
