Th e National Rural Water Association was asked to submit comments on the regulatory revisions to the drinking Lead and Copper Rule (LCR).  Please find below an excerpt from the memo that was submitted to EPA.  To read the complete memo, please click here.

"NRWA shares the EPA's goal of eliminating all lead from the public's drinking water.  Local governments and state governments exist solely to protect and assist their citizens. The provision of safe drinking water is perhaps the most elemental purpose of local government.  NRWA supports the Agency's concept of 'shared responsibility' among federal, state, and local governments - and the public. Any new LCR should be fundamentally modified to reflect this principle.  Unfortunately, much of the local opposition to the current rule is based on its arbitrary and uniform mandates that result in many communities believing many of the rule's requirements are unnecessary or diverting the community from implementing the most effective policy from preventing lead in drinking water.  Regarding the principle of respecting the authority of Congress by administering enacted statutes within the authority granted by Congress, we respectfully urge the Agency to consider if the existing LCR's mandate that allows for the effects of a private homeowner's plumbing (i.e. a kitchen faucet) on the water passing through that fixture should result in very burdensome and possibly unrelated requirements on the utility (i.e. treatment installation or adjustments, removal of underground water lines, and alarming public notices) is authorized under the SDWA.  The SDWA limits EPA's authority to regulate the quality of drinking water "in the water in public water systems." We believe the current LCR regulatory nexus between the results of tap sampling (when EPA has made no finding of contamination or any adverse effect on the water leaving the public water systems) and correlating mandates on the greater community exceeds the authority provided under the SDWA."

To access the complete memo, please click here.

The Curtis E. Lloyd Scholarship Program was created by the FRWA Board in 2008 in memory of one of its longest serving Circuit Ri ders.   Mr. Lloyd joined the FRWA staff in 1980 and worked for the association for 17 years. He retired in 1997 and stayed active until his untimely death in December 2007.

For more detailed information and to complete an application click  here. If you would like further information, please email   [email protected].

Remember, the deadline for applying is March 31st so get your application in today!

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