Mississippi will be receiving nearly $29 million from the federal government to identify and replace lead service lines statewide.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Missisippi’s $28,650,000 share of the $3 billion in funding to be dispersed across the nation as part of its ongoing mission to prevent exposure to lead in drinking water. According to experts, lead can cause a range of serious health impacts, including irreversible harm to brain development in children.
President Joe Biden has pledged to replace every lead pipe in the country to protect children and families. Funded by the Bipartisan infrastructure law and available through EPA’s successful Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), the EPA will take another step in fulfilling its “Lead Pipe and Paint Action” plan and “Get the Lead Out” initiative.
Working collaboratively, EPA and the state revolving funds are advancing the President’s Justice40 initiative to ensure that 40% of overall benefits from certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities deemed to be marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
Lead exposure disproportionately affects communities of color and low-income families, the EPA claims. The total funding announced through this program to date is expected to replace up to 1.7 million lead pipes nationwide, securing clean drinking water for residents.
“The science is clear, there is no safe level of lead exposure, and the primary source of harmful exposure in drinking water is through lead pipes,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said. “President Biden understands it is critical to identify and remove lead pipes as quickly as possible, and he has secured significant resources for states and territories to accelerate the permanent removal of dangerous lead pipes once and for all.”
Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law invests $15 billion to identify and replace lead service lines. The law mandates that 49% of funds provided through the DWSRF general supplemental funding and DWSRF lead service line replacement funding must be provided as grants and forgivable loans to communities considered to be disadvantaged.
The EPA projects that there is a national total of nine million lead service lines across the country, based on data collected from the updated 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment. The funding announced Thursday will be provided specifically for lead service line identification and replacement and will help every state and territory fund projects to remove lead pipes and reduce exposure to lead from drinking water.
The Lead Service Line-specific formula used to divvy out these funds allows states to receive financial assistance to meet needs as soon as possible. States with more projected lead service lines will receive proportionally more funding.
