The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it plans to partner with 200 underserved communities nationwide to provide technical assistance in identifying, locating and obtaining funding to remove lead-service lines. The new Get the Lead Out (GLO) initiative will be implemented in partnership with the U.S. Labor Department and is funded through the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which allocated $15 billion for the removal of lead service lines across the United States. 

Radhika Fox, EPA’s assistant administrator for water, said that some 9.2 million drinking water pipes still contain lead, and they are most prevalent in older homes, often in urban, underserved communities. “They disproportionately impact families with the fewest resources to remove them,” she said Nov. 7.