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DNR board adopts stricter lead-and-copper rule to align Wisconsin with new federal standards
Summary
The Natural Resources Board approved board order DG‑04‑24 to update Wisconsin's lead-and-copper administrative code to match recent federal Lead and Copper Rule revisions and improvements, lowering the lead action level and requiring service line inventories, sampling changes, and replacement plans.
The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board on a unanimous voice vote adopted board order DG‑04‑24 to amend NR 809 and related code to align the state with federal updates to the Lead and Copper Rule.
DNR manager Anne Hiracouture told the board the rule lowers the lead action level from 15 parts per billion to 10 ppb, strengthens sampling (including additional first‑ and fifth‑liter sampling at locations with lead service lines), requires community water systems to create service‑line material inventories and lead service‑line replacement plans, strengthens corrosion‑control requirements and public‑notice and education obligations, and requires sampling at schools and childcare facilities. Hiracouture said the state used federal compliance costs as the baseline for the environmental impact analysis and estimates an incremental annual state cost of roughly $37,000 across systems for the first five years where the state rule is more stringent than federal baseline assumptions.
Why it matters: the DNR framed the rule primarily as preserving Wisconsin’s primacy for Safe Drinking Water Act administration by keeping state regulations at least as stringent as EPA’s. Under that federal framework, states that do not adopt comparable standards risk having EPA regulate systems directly.
Public input and stakeholder views: Dan Gustafson, senior staff attorney with Midwest Environmental Advocates testifying for the Coalition on Lead Emergency (COAL), urged swift adoption. Gustafson cited estimates that more than 140,000 Wisconsin homes and businesses remain served by lead service lines and stressed the rule’s potential to reduce childhood lead exposures. ‘‘There is no safe level of lead in drinking water,’’ Gustafson said.
Joe Fitzgerald, policy and advocacy director for Milwaukee Water Commons, also testified in support and urged Wisconsin to adopt a robust, protective version of the federal rule. Fitzgerald highlighted the need for public inventories, replacement timelines and stronger outreach to affected communities and said the updated federal rule’s requirement to identify and remove lead service lines within a 10‑year timeline is a critical public‑health improvement.
Funding and implementation: Hiracouture said the DNR has hired technical‑assistance providers to help systems develop inventories and replacement plans and that recent and forthcoming state allocations—including an announcement the day of the meeting—add roughly $150 million in funding for lead service line replacement via multiple streams (state revolving funds and grant allocations). She said principal‑forgiveness options are available for disadvantaged communities under federal infrastructure programs but that specifics and program administration are managed through the Department’s Community Financial Assistance bureau.
Board action and next steps: Following the presentation and appearances, board member Robin moved approval and Doug seconded; the motion carried. The department said the rule will maintain state primacy and bring Wisconsin into alignment with the federal Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) and the 2024 Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI). Systems are already required to meet some federal changes and will face additional compliance obligations in coming years, with the stricter LCRI requirements taking effect for systems in 2027.
The board noted concerns raised in public comments about compliance costs for small and rural systems and a pending legal challenge by industry groups to the federal improvements; DNR staff said they evaluated comments but must meet primacy and rulemaking timelines.
What’s next: The rule package was adopted by the board today; the department will proceed with the administrative steps to finalize state code and continue stakeholder implementation support and grant coordination.
(Authority referenced in this article: Safe Drinking Water Act; EPA Lead and Copper Rule Revisions and Lead and Copper Rule Improvements; board order DG‑04‑24.)
