DeKalb staff plan bilingual mailing to up to 150,000 households for lead-and-copper service-line inventory

DeKalb County officials briefed commissioners on a required public-notification program under the revised federal lead-and-copper rule and presented draft English/Spanish letters and outreach materials for review.

Assistant Director of Compliance Miss Dora said the county—s inventory shows roughly 216,000 service lines in the system, of which the county has identified 65,713 as non-lead and recorded zero confirmed lead service lines so far. "So far we have not identified any lead lines in the county," she said, and added the county has about 150,000 laterals classified as "unknown" because available records do not disclose the material for the private side of the lateral.

Under Environmental Protection Division (EPD) guidance, a lateral is treated as "unknown" if documentation does not establish more than half its material. Miss Dora showed county maps indicating identified non-lead laterals and scattered unknowns. Staff proposed sending a voluntary explanatory cover letter along with the mandatory federal notice to residents whose laterals are unknown; the cover sheet will be bilingual and can be mailed as an insert with the water bill or sent separately.

Commissioners pressed staff on sequencing (whether the friendly cover letter and the mandatory notice would go together) and on the 2027 deadline to present a final inventory. Director Wells said the cover letter will accompany the mandatory notice and that staff will ramp up resources, use self-identification outreach and, where needed, deploy contractor assistance funded through a grant to reduce unknowns. He said failing to complete the inventory on time typically prompts regulators to request an extension and a mitigation plan rather than immediate penalties when a jurisdiction shows good-faith efforts to comply.

Commissioners requested more targeted outreach by zip code and district so that communications focus on areas likely to contain older housing stock; staff agreed to produce targeted lists and said they expect to mail notifications within about two weeks and to meet reporting checkpoints ahead of the 2027 inventory requirement.

The materials presented to commissioners included a voluntary flyer to help residents self-identify pipe materials, a mandatory notice required by federal regulations for households with unknown laterals, and a planned contractor bid to send inspectors to homes that request assistance.

Next steps: staff asked commissioners for expedited feedback on the cover letter wording so the mailing can proceed. The board did not vote on a separate policy change; commissioners provided direction and requested targeted outreach data.