WASHINGTON (AP) – The Environmental Protection Agency’s top water regulator says officials are working to strengthen a federal rule limiting lead and copper in drinking water. That comes in the aftermath of lead-contaminated water in Flint, Michigan.
But the agency will not propose changes until next year and a final rule is expected months after that.
Joel Beauvais, acting chief of the EPA’s water office, told Congress Wednesday that he and others at the EPA “certainly have a sense of urgency” about making changes to the lead and copper rule, but added: “We also want to get them right.”
Beauvais made the comments as the House Energy committee began a hearing on the ongoing lead-contamination crisis in Flint.
The lead and copper rule requires water systems across the country to monitor drinking water.