By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach lead a coalition of state attorneys general in opposition to an Environmental Protection Agency regulation that would require the replacement of more than 9 million lead pipes across the country, Kobach said in a press release issued today.
The city of Hays has contracted with a company to assist the city in determining where in Hays lead pipes might exist.
The process is part of a national initiative spearheaded by the Biden administration. The EPA announced in late November that utilities would have to pull and replace the lead pipes within 10 years.
In Kansas, the EPA estimates 54,107 lead pipes remain while the Natural Resources Defense Council believes there are more than 160,000.
Kobach said the proposed rule would cost individual homeowners thousands of dollars.
“This is another example of unnecessary overreach by the Biden administration. Americans are already burdened by rising energy and utility costs and crushing inflation, and this proposal just adds insult to injury,” Kobach said. “The EPA should abandon it.”
Lead is a neurotoxin that in high doses can be fatal. It was in pipes, gasoline and household paint for most of the last century, exposing generations of children to its effects, the Reflector story said.
Even at low levels, exposure to lead can hinder children’s brain development and cause behavioral problems and learning difficulties. Lead-poisoned children can have trouble with language processing, memory, attention and impulsivity. Later in life, it raises the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, the Reflector story said.
The multi-state coalition strongly opposes the EPA’s “National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for Lead and Copper,” because the regulations would increase utility costs for everyone and force private homeowners to pay to replace their own lines if they contain lead and connect to a city line, the press release said.
“This proposed rule creates a heavy-handed mandate on states that is nigh impossible to comply with and is also a financial burden on already squeezed middle-class families,” the joint letter reads. “It is unworkable, underfunded, and unnecessary and should be withdrawn.”
The attorneys general estimate the removal and replacement of the pipes would cost more than $60 billion. Congress earmarked only $15 billion for the undertaking. The EPA estimates it will cost an average of $4,700 or between $1,200 and $12,300 per line that needs to be replaced.
Kobach leads the multistate coalition. He was joined by 14 other states including Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
How many pipes if any remain in Hays is yet to be determined, Jeff Crispin, Hays director of water resources, said during an interview in December.
The city is working with Burns & McDonnell Engineers as well as BlueConduit, which does predictive modeling to identify areas where the city might need to investigate for lead pipe.
The deadline to identify the pipes is October, Crispin said.
"Right now it's about identifying," Crispin said. "In the future, there will be some discussion and research on how to eradicate any lead that would be found within service lines that go into a home."
Typically cities deal with water mains and the lines that go to the meter. Past the meter is typically private and the responsibility of the homeowner, Crispin said.
"This requires the city to know what the material is not only from the city line to the meter but the meter to inside the home," he said.
Crispin said he has no idea how much removing any lead pipes might cost the city. That information will not be available until the survey is complete.