Lead and Copper Rule
In 1991, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the Lead and Copper Rule to minimize lead and copper in drinking water. The rule replaced the previous standard of 50 ppb, measured at the entry point to the distribution system. The rule established a maximum contaminant level goal of zero for lead in drinking water and an action level (AL) of 0.015 milligrams per liter (mg/L) for lead and 1.3 mg/L for copper based on 90th percentile level of tap water samples. An action level exceedance is not a violation but triggers other requirements to minimize exposure to lead and copper in drinking water that include water quality parameter monitoring, corrosion control treatment, source water monitoring/treatment, public education, and lead service line replacement. Lead and Copper Rule requirements apply to all Community and Non Transient Non Community Public Water Systems. In 2000, EPA published revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule to address implementation problems and issues arising from legal challenges to the 1991 rule. The revisions also streamlined and reduced monitoring and reporting burdens. In 2004, EPA published minor corrections to the Lead and Copper Rule to reinstate text that was inadvertently dropped from the rule during previous revisions. EPA then published proposed revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule in 2006. In October 2007, the EPA finalized seven targeted regulatory changes to the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for lead and copper. This final rule strengthens the implementation of the Lead and Copper Rule in the following areas: monitoring, treatment processes, public education, customer awareness, and lead service line replacement. These changes provide more effective protection of public health by reducing exposure to lead in drinking water.
Click here for a list of Public Water Systems currently not in compliance with the lead action level. The following documents and links are provided to help water system owners and operators understand their Lead and Copper Rule responsibilities:
- Environmental Protection Agency - Lead and Copper Rule
- EPA Lead and Copper Rule Guidance Document
- Calculating the 90th Percentile for Lead and Copper
- Click here to view a presentation of the recent 2007 Revisions
- EPA Webinar on April 19th, 2016 on Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) Optimal Corrosion Control Treatment (OCCT) Evaluation: Presentation slides by Edward Viveiros (EPA OGWDW) and Laura Dufresne (The Cadmus Group)
- Optimal Corrosion Control Treatment Evaluation Technical Recommendations
- OCCT Checklist
- OCCT Evaluation Excel-based Templates
- Presentation: Lead & Copper Rule - Public Drinking Water Systems in Connecticut
- Reducing Lead in Drinking Water Guidance Document
- 3Ts for Reducing Lead in Drinking Water in Schools
-
Lead in Drinking Water Fact Sheet for Schools and Child Care Facilities
- EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR): For more information, visit the Federal Register visit https://www.regulations.gov: Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2017-0300
- EPA’s LCRR website: Revised Lead and Copper Rule | US EPA
- Circular letter 2022-35 – LCRR Material Inventory Template
- Circular letter 2022-41 – EPA Release of Lead Service Line Inventory Guidance (attached above)
- EPA’s Guidance for Developing and Maintaining a Service Line Inventory and Inventory Template (released August 4, 2022)
- Circular Letter 2023-33 - Lead and Copper Rule Revisions Final Material Inventory Template
Please submit the LCRR service line material inventory to DPH.LeadandCopper@ct.gov. For files that are too large to send via email, please let us know at DPH.LeadandCopper@ct.gov, we will set up a OneDrive folder for you to upload your inventories.
Training Recording
- LCRR Initial Inventory Requirements and Service Line Classification 20240605 Training Recording (youtube.com)
- 2020 CT DPH Comments on the Proposed Lead and Copper Rule Revisions
- 2020 ASDWA, AWWA, NEIWPCC, and others comments can be viewed the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations: Lead and Copper Rule Revisions docket: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OW-2017-0300-0001
- 2018 Connecticut DPH Comments - EPA's Draft Revisions to the Lead & Copper Rule
- 2018 ASDWA, AWWA, other organizations’ comments can be viewed in the EPA docket https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=EPA-HQ-OW-2018-0007
Correspondence
- Circular Letter 2016-07 - EPA Clarification of Recommended Tap Sampling Procedures for Purposes of the Lead and Copper Rule
- Circular Letter 2016-09 - Increasing Transparency in the Implementations of the Lead and Copper Rule and Enhancing Efforts to Notify Residents Promptly of Lead Results
- Circular Letter 2016-11 - Lead & Copper Rule (LCR) - Public Water Systems responsibilities and obligations under the LCR.
- Circular Letter 2016-13 - Eligibility of Service Line Replacement Under the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) Program
- Circular Letter 2016-26 - School & Child Care Public Water Systems Lead & Copper Rule Compliance
- Circular Letter 2018-12 - School & Child Care Public Water Systems Lead & Copper Compliance
- Circular Letter 2023-21 - LCR and RTCR Sampling Point Requirement
- Drinking Water Section Response to EPA’s letter to the DPH Commissioner dated 2/29/2016
- EPA's Letter Regarding the Lead and Copper Rule dated 7/6/2016
- Drinking Water Section Response to EPA's 7/6/2016 Letter
All systems shall provide a notice of the individual tap results from lead tap water monitoring to the occupants of the residence/location where the tap was tested. The notice must be delivered to consumers within 30 days of the sample results being received from the laboratory even if the results did not exceed the action level for lead. The following templates may be used to satisfy the Consumer Notification Requirements:
No later than three months following the end of the monitoring period, systems shall mail a completed and signed Certification of Consumer Notification of Lead Tap Water Sampling with a sample copy of the Consumer Notice of tap results to the Department.
Lead Public Education
Community (CWS) and Non-Transient Non-Community Public Water Systems (NTNC) that exceed the lead action level based on tap water samples are required to deliver lead public education materials to customers within sixty (60) days after the end of the monitoring period in which the exceedance occurs. The following documents have been developed to assist public water systems in developing public education materials that meet the content and delivery requirements:
- Guidance for Lead Public Education Content and Delivery Requirements
- Lead and Copper Rule Lead Public Education Template
No later than nine (9) days after the end of the period in which the exceedance occurs, systems shall submit a completed and signed Certification of Lead Public Education Content and Delivery and a copy of the Lead Education Materials delivered to the Department.
For more information on the Lead and Copper Rule, please refer to the flowchart
The WIIN Act, enacted on December 16, 2016, modified Section 1414 of the Safe Drinking Water Act to include public notification requirements for exceedances of the lead action level under the Lead and Copper Rule. As a result, the Community {CWS) or Non-Transient Non-Community {NTNC) public water system is required to provide public notice as soon as practical, but not later than 24 hours, after the CWS or NTNC learns of the lead action level exceedance.
Copper Action Level Exceedance Notification
A CWS or NTNC that exceeds the copper action level based on tap water samples shall notify consumers of the concentration by direct mail, not later than 30 calendar days after the CWS or NTNC learns of the exceedance. The following documents have been developed to assist public water systems in developing public notification materials that meet the content and delivery requirements: