Federal Regulation of Lead in Drinking Water
By Kenneth M. Reiss
INTRODUCTION
The decline of the Roman Empire has been attributed, in part, to lead poisoning. Scholars have reported that Roman food, water and wine all contained excessive amounts of lead. Although Americans ingest considerably less lead than did the ancient Romans, lead poisoning still poses a significant public health threat in this country, particularly to children. The Federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently reported that more than four million children suffer from lead poisoning. The director of the CDC has stated that “lead poisoning is the No. 1 environmental problem facing America's children.”
In addition to threatening children, lead poisoning presents health dangers to adults and, ironically, to federal government officials themselves. For example, at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters, water samples at nineteen sources were found to contain excessive amounts of lead. Additionally, a survey of twelve Capitol Hill buildings found that twenty-one percent of the water sources tested contained excessive lead levels.
The federal government has undertaken numerous legislative efforts to address the problem of human lead contamination from a variety of sources, including lead in paint, gasoline and drinking water. Congressional and EPA efforts have most recently been focused on the problem of lead in drinking water. Specifically, in 1988, Congress enacted the Lead Contamination Control Act (LCCA), which recalled drinking water coolers with lead-lined water reservoir tanks and called for testing for lead contamination in school water sources. Pursuant to the 1986 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the EPA has also promulgated national primary drinking water regulations for lead which require water utilities, under certain circumstances, to institute corrosion control treatment, lead service line replacement, source water treatment and public education about the dangers of lead.
This Note focuses on federal efforts to regulate lead in drinking water and evaluates the likelihood of reduction of lead levels from such efforts. Section I analyzes the general problem of lead poisoning from all sources. In order to put the problem of lead in drinking water in perspective, Section II briefly describes efforts to regulate lead from sources other than drinking water. Section III examines the specific problem of lead in drinking water. Sections IV and V detail the two most prominent federal efforts to regulate lead in drinking water. Section IV briefly delineates the LCCA's provisions and implementation. Section V describes and analyzes the recently promulgated EPA regulations which address the problem of lead contamination. Section VI assesses these federal efforts and examines other suggested efforts to deal with the problem of lead in drinking water. As this Note will demonstrate, although federal efforts are a step in the right direction, it is unlikely that these measures will markedly reduce the amount of lead in this nation's drinking water.
The decline of the Roman Empire has been attributed, in part, to lead poisoning. Scholars have reported that Roman food, water and wine all contained excessive amounts of lead. Although Americans ingest considerably less lead than did the ancient Romans, lead poisoning still poses a significant public health threat in this country, particularly to children. The Federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently reported that more than four million children suffer from lead poisoning. The director of the CDC has stated that “lead poisoning is the No. 1 environmental problem facing America's children.”
In addition to threatening children, lead poisoning presents health dangers to adults and, ironically, to federal government officials themselves. For example, at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters, water samples at nineteen sources were found to contain excessive amounts of lead. Additionally, a survey of twelve Capitol Hill buildings found that twenty-one percent of the water sources tested contained excessive lead levels.
The federal government has undertaken numerous legislative efforts to address the problem of human lead contamination from a variety of sources, including lead in paint, gasoline and drinking water. Congressional and EPA efforts have most recently been focused on the problem of lead in drinking water. Specifically, in 1988, Congress enacted the Lead Contamination Control Act (LCCA), which recalled drinking water coolers with lead-lined water reservoir tanks and called for testing for lead contamination in school water sources. Pursuant to the 1986 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the EPA has also promulgated national primary drinking water regulations for lead which require water utilities, under certain circumstances, to institute corrosion control treatment, lead service line replacement, source water treatment and public education about the dangers of lead.
This Note focuses on federal efforts to regulate lead in drinking water and evaluates the likelihood of reduction of lead levels from such efforts. Section I analyzes the general problem of lead poisoning from all sources. In order to put the problem of lead in drinking water in perspective, Section II briefly describes efforts to regulate lead from sources other than drinking water. Section III examines the specific problem of lead in drinking water. Sections IV and V detail the two most prominent federal efforts to regulate lead in drinking water. Section IV briefly delineates the LCCA's provisions and implementation. Section V describes and analyzes the recently promulgated EPA regulations which address the problem of lead contamination. Section VI assesses these federal efforts and examines other suggested efforts to deal with the problem of lead in drinking water. As this Note will demonstrate, although federal efforts are a step in the right direction, it is unlikely that these measures will markedly reduce the amount of lead in this nation's drinking water.
