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Nationwide, old lead service lines connect an estimated 6.1 million or more homes and businesses to community drinking water mains. The Lead Service Line Replacement Collaborative is a joint effort of 27 national public health, water utility, environmental, labor, consumer, housing, and state and local governmental organizations to accelerate full removal of the lead pipes providing drinking water to millions of American homes.
In January 2017, the Collaborative released an online toolkit to help communities voluntarily develop and implement lead service line (LSL) removal programs. The Collaborative’s toolkit includes a roadmap for getting started, suggested practices to identify and remove LSLs in a safe, equitable, and cost-effective manner, policies to consider to support local efforts, and links to additional resources that may be helpful when developing local programs. The work of the LSL Replacement collaborative is grounded in the following principles:
The Collaborative is currently seeking feedback on its toolkit, particularly from communities who are engaged or interested in LSL replacement initiatives. |
Download a brochure with more information on the Collaborative:
Download an overview document about the Collaborative.
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Pilot LSL Replacement Programs
Following the release of the online toolkit, the focus of the Collaborative is to encourage communities around the country to develop and begin implementing plans for full replacement of lead service lines. This can start with a simple conversation about the current situation in a community – What is known about where lead materials are in contact with drinking water? What plans for replacement already exist? What issues need to be addressed and who should be involved in planning a full LSL replacement program? In other situations, local elected officials, the water utility, and other community leaders may already have a LSL replacement plan or have begun the planning process and may have specific technical, policy, or funding questions.
Developing and implementing an effective LSL replacement program represents a significant undertaking by a utility and a community. It takes leadership and sustained effort. The Collaborative is available to help communities start a conversation and to connect people at any stage of the process to others who have relevant expertise. The Collaborative also encourages communities to consider becoming a “pilot” community and to share their experiences with others. The Collaborative will work with community leaders to identify what assistance would be most useful, to seek funding for local initiatives, and to bring pilot communities together to share lessons learned.
Specific assistance to pilot communities may include some or all of the following elements:
Developing and implementing an effective LSL replacement program represents a significant undertaking by a utility and a community. It takes leadership and sustained effort. The Collaborative is available to help communities start a conversation and to connect people at any stage of the process to others who have relevant expertise. The Collaborative also encourages communities to consider becoming a “pilot” community and to share their experiences with others. The Collaborative will work with community leaders to identify what assistance would be most useful, to seek funding for local initiatives, and to bring pilot communities together to share lessons learned.
Specific assistance to pilot communities may include some or all of the following elements:
- Convening or facilitation assistance in forming local, collaborative initiatives;
- Training and/or technical assistance;
- Suggested measures for local success, including assessing progress in implementing replacement;
- Opportunities to exchange lessons learned with other communities; and
- Recognition for successful and innovative community initiatives.
Members
The current members of the Lead Service Line Replacement Collaborative are (*Steering Committee members):
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More information can be found on the Collaborative’s website or by contacting a member of the Steering Committee:
Gail Bingham, RESOLVE, gbingham@resolv.org
Steve Via, American Water Works Association, svia@awwa.org
Stephanie Hayes Schlea, Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, schlea@amwa.net
Kristie Trousdale, Children’s Environmental Health Network, kristiet@cehn.org
Lynn Thorp, Clean Water Action, lthorp@cleanwater.org
Tom Neltner, Environmental Defense Fund, tneltner@edf.org
Gail Bingham, RESOLVE, gbingham@resolv.org
Steve Via, American Water Works Association, svia@awwa.org
Stephanie Hayes Schlea, Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, schlea@amwa.net
Kristie Trousdale, Children’s Environmental Health Network, kristiet@cehn.org
Lynn Thorp, Clean Water Action, lthorp@cleanwater.org
Tom Neltner, Environmental Defense Fund, tneltner@edf.org
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Lead service line replacement is complicated and practices may evolve with new information. The Collaborative will continually update its resources to reflect any changes. While all original material has been vetted through the Collaborative, references to external documents and websites do not constitute an endorsement by the Collaborative or any of its members. Please direct any comments on these tools and resources to feedback. |
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The Lead Service Line Replacement Collaborative encourages ongoing feedback on how to improve these tools and resources. Please provide feedback. |
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