H.R. 9836: Removing Existing Pipes with Lead and Advancing Clean Environments Act

This bill would update federal programs that help remove lead hazards from homes and drinking water systems. It would make changes to two existing laws: one that supports lead-based paint hazard reduction in housing, and another that helps reduce lead in drinking water.

Housing-related lead hazard work

For housing grants, the bill would expand what federal grant money can be used for and how projects are judged. In plain terms, it would:

• Give more weight to projects that help preserve homes that would otherwise remain unsafe because of lead-based paint.
• Prioritize areas with elevated childhood lead exposure and large numbers of older homes, especially homes built before 1978.
• Allow grant funds to cover more than just direct lead removal, including:
  • clearance testing after remediation;
  • repairs and rehabilitation needed to keep homes lead-safe;
  • local program support such as inspections, rental registry integration, permitting systems, data modernization, and compliance work;
  • workforce development, contractor training, certification support, and apprenticeship-related activities;
  • technical assistance and case management for property owners and occupants.

The bill would also require lead hazard assessments and remediation funded under this program to look for water-related lead hazards too. That means checking whether lead may be present in:

• the water service line; and
• interior plumbing.

If a possible water-related lead hazard is found, the grantee would have to arrange further inspection and follow-up remediation. While the problem is being fixed, the bill would require interim protections such as NSF/ANSI-certified point-of-use filters and, when needed, faucet replacements or compatibility measures.

In addition, the bill would require the Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide more technical assistance to help local applicants run these programs. That assistance could cover program design, procurement, inspections, financial management, compliance systems, data collection, and coordination with other funding sources. The bill also allows technical assistance for workforce and certification capacity.

Reporting requirements would be expanded. Grantees would have to report, among other things, how many households were served, how many occupants were temporarily relocated, how many homes were cleared for reoccupancy after lead work, and what was done to preserve habitable housing and build local implementation capacity.

The bill would also add coordination requirements with the Environmental Protection Agency. HUD would have to consult with EPA to keep housing lead work consistent with federal lead rules. Within one year, HUD and EPA would have to issue joint guidance on best practices, ways to align with state and tribal lead programs, and ways to streamline technical assistance.

Finally, the bill would create a process for dealing with grantees that are at risk of not spending funds on time. Before taking money back, the agency would have to give notice and a chance to use a corrective action plan. That plan could include extra technical assistance, revised timelines, partnerships, procurement support, workforce help, or data and compliance improvements. If needed, unused funds could be reallocated to another eligible local entity serving the same area, if practical.

Drinking water lead line replacement

The bill would also broaden the federal drinking water lead-reduction program. It would replace the term “lead service line” with “covered service line,” and define that term to include both lead service lines and certain galvanized pipes that may have been downstream of lead or whose history cannot be shown to be free of lead exposure.

In practice, this means more water service lines could be eligible for replacement support under the program. The bill would also update the program’s priority rules so that, where possible, federal support is directed toward eligible entities serving areas with elevated childhood lead exposure or large concentrations of older housing that may contain lead hazards.

The bill would further require that, where practicable, replacement of covered service lines be coordinated with housing lead hazard reduction work, local building code enforcement, and other lead exposure reduction efforts. This is intended to reduce duplication and connect pipe replacement with other lead cleanup work in the same neighborhood or property.

The Environmental Protection Agency could also provide technical assistance and implementation support to eligible entities. That support could help with identifying and inventorying service lines, planning and designing projects, coordinating full replacement of public and private portions of lines, customer outreach and consent, and combining federal, state, tribal, local, or private resources.

Relevant Companies

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