California will get $27.5 million in federal funding to find and replace lead pipes that deliver water to homes, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this week.
The funding will flow through California’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, the agency said in a statement Wednesday. Such programs, which exist in every state, help public water systems pay for infrastructure projects to comply with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
Lead is a neurotoxin, and exposure to even low levels can damage children’s brains and affect their development. The installation of lead service lines was banned nationwide in 1986, but millions of homes still receive tap water through them.
The EPA in 2024 issued a rule requiring drinking water systems nationwide to replace these pipes within 10 years.
“Getting the lead out of pipes is vital to the health and prosperity of children and families in communities all across America,” EPA Pacific Southwest Region Administrator Michael Martucci said in a statement Thursday.
The money heading California’s way was part of $2.9 billion in lead pipe removal funding announced for states nationwide. The EPA said it was distributing the funds based on the location of about 4 million lead service lines across the country.
The agency also said it would redistribute $18 million in Drinking Water State Revolving Fund money that had previously been made available to states to address lead, but was never used. Those funds would be awarded to different states to replace lead service lines, the EPA statement said.
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