Rep. Tlaib warns lead service line replacement remains underfunded, calls for surge in federal resources
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Rep. Rashida Tlaib told the committee replacing every lead service line nationwide will cost nearly $75 billion and said appropriations recently cut $125 million from replacement funding; she urged bipartisan action to accelerate replacements and restore LIHWAP assistance.
Representative Rashida Tlaib (MI) told the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that the nation faces a multi‑billion dollar task to remove lead service lines and urged Congress to increase federal funding. "Updated estimates put the total cost of full lead service line replacement nearly $75,000,000,000," she said, adding that at least another $60 billion is needed to finish the job.
Tlaib also said that congressional appropriators had cut $125 million from lead service line replacement funding in a recent interior appropriations package, and she argued the cuts undermine communities’ ability to provide safe drinking water. She urged bicameral and bipartisan action and said the Low‑Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) has run out of funding and should be restored to prevent water affordability shocks for families.
The committee did not produce a formal response at the hearing. Tlaib’s numeric estimates should be cross‑checked with EPA and relevant program offices before further reporting. The larger policy point — that replacing lead service lines requires significant federal resources and sustained program design — is consistent with repeated legislative proposals and past agency estimates.
Next steps: committee staff to consider lead service line funding proposals and members offered written testimony that will be added to the record.