While in Milwaukee, Biden will also announce a finalized EPA rule that requires water systems nationwide to replace lead service lines within a decade.
President Joe Biden will be in Wisconsin on Oct. 8 to announce a $2.6 billion investment to replace lead pipes, according to senior administration officials.
The funding was allocated under the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which set aside $15 billion over five years for replacing lead pipes. The Clean Water State Revolving Fund under the bill gives an additional $11.7 billion that can be used toward this effort.
While in Milwaukee, Biden will also announce a finalized Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that requires water systems nationwide to replace lead service lines within a decade. The new standard for the action level—or how much water in a water system is contaminated—of pipes will be 10 parts per billion. The current standard is 15 parts per billion.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who is running for reelection, will not be with the president as he makes the announcement.
“Senator Baldwin had a previously scheduled event at a family farm in Eau Claire to receive the American Farm Bureau Federation’s ‘Friend of Farm Bureau’ award recognizing her leadership fighting for America’s hardworking farmers, growers, and producers,” the senator’s communications director, Eli Rosen, told The Epoch Times.
One senior administration official said Baldwin is “an amazing partner in this administration and leading the charge in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”
Under the EPA rule, at least 49 percent of the funding must be provided to disadvantaged communities as funds that do not need to be repaid. The rule updates what is called the Lead and Copper Rule, which was first enacted in 1991.
“The EPA’s new lead rule will begin to reverse the massive public health disaster of lead-contaminated tap water that has affected generations of our children. Every person has a right to safe and affordable drinking water, no matter their race, income, or zip code,” said Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, in a statement obtained by The Epoch Times.
