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Lawmakers hear request to extend school lead-abatement reimbursement program appropriations
Summary
Representative Paul Tuss asked the committee to extend an unspent appropriation for lead remediation in school drinking water systems so districts can complete reimbursement-based replacement projects; DEQ officials said inventories are mostly complete but reimbursements to date have been limited.
Representative Paul Tuss told the House Appropriations Committee House Bill 234 would extend an existing appropriation to the coming biennium so the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) can continue the school drinking water lead abatement reimbursement program. “This effort received broad bipartisan support, including a total of $3,700,000 … we underestimated the time it would take to get this program off the ground,” Representative Paul Tuss said.
Why it matters
The program reimburses school districts for mitigation of lead in plumbing fixtures. Tuss told the committee that, statewide, 590 school facilities exist and that 74 percent have at least one fixture that exceeded the action level for lead concentration, a statistic he cited to explain why the existing appropriation has not yet been fully spent.
What DEQ reported
Lindsay Krivaruchka, Division Administrator for DEQ Water Quality, and Greg Montgomery, program coordinator for the DEQ lead program, answered committee questions. Krivaruchka said the program is reimbursement-based: the state pays only after districts complete mitigation work and file reimbursement requests. Krivaruchka said reimbursements to date are limited; as of the date she cited, DEQ had reimbursed $89,000 with an additional $49,000 in process, leaving most of the $3.7 million unobligated. Montgomery added that most districts have completed the required inventories and that roughly 76 schools still need to submit inventories.
Questions from legislators
Representative Crow asked whether the inventory tracks how many schools were built before 1978 (a proxy for lead plumbing). DEQ staff said they do not maintain building-year data across all districts; their inventory focuses on fixtures and sampling results, not construction dates. Representative Beatty asked about the program balance; Krivaruchka provided the partial-reimbursement totals cited above.
No committee action recorded
The hearing closed with the sponsor asking for the appropriation extension so remaining projects can proceed; DEQ staff said they believe the existing appropriation is sufficient to complete the work, based on current estimates.
Ending
Representative Tuss said the extension will not add new money but would allow unspent appropriations to carry forward so districts can finish mitigation projects and receive reimbursement.
