EPA Announces Ten Communities for Roundtable Discussions on Lead in Drinking Water

On Wednesday, May 26th, EPA announced the ten communities that had been selected for virtual roundtable discussions on EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR). The roundtables will foster dialogue on the experience of communities that are affected by lead in drinking water as the agency reviews the LCRR to ensure that it supports EPA’s priorities.

EPA’s community roundtables will kick-off on June 3rd with Pittsburgh, Pa. The agency will also host roundtables with Newark, N.J.; Washington, D.C.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Chicago, Ill.; Benton Harbor and Highland Park, Mich. (combined); Flint and Detroit, Mich. (combined); Malden, Mass.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Newburgh, N.Y. The community roundtables will include local public water utilities, community organizations, environmental groups, and public officials. The roundtables will be live-streamed at at: https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/lead-and-copper-rule-revisions-virtual-engagements.

In addition to these geographically focused roundtables, EPA will also host national stakeholder roundtables (dates not set yet) with drinking water utilities, intergovernmental associations, environmental organizations, environmental justice organizations, public health organizations, and consumer associations. In July (dates not set yet), EPA will also host a Tribal roundtable discussion and a national co-regulator meeting with primacy agencies to discuss the feedback received from communities and stakeholders.

Anyone in the drinking water community, including members of the public. may continue to submit comments on the LCRR via the docket at: http://www.regulations.gov, Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OW-2021-0255 until June 30th.