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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) and Congressman A. Donald McEachin (VA-04) led a group of seventeen Members in sending a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan applauding the agency’s recently released Strategy to Reduce Lead Exposures and Disparities in U.S. Communities. The EPA’s Lead Strategy centers around three primary objectives: reducing community exposures to lead sources, identifying lead-exposed communities and improving their health outcomes, and communicating more effectively with stakeholders.

“We would like to use this opportunity to commend the EPA for drafting a Lead Strategy that we anticipate will considerably decrease the lasting disparities in lead exposure still seen in the United States today,” the letter reads. “Furthermore, it is imperative that Congress support the implementation of the Lead Strategy to the maximum extent possible, as communities of color and low-income communities continue to experience a disproportionate amount of toxic lead exposure.”

Led by Reps. Dingell and McEachin, the Members also outlined the following recommendations to bolster the EPA’s strategy, further reduce the possibility of harmful exposure, and ensure better health outcomes for American families:

1. Set the dust-lead hazard standards (DLHS) for lead dust on surfaces and the soil lead hazard standard as close to zero as feasible.
2. Set the definition of lead-based paint at the lowest possible detection level possible.
3. Propose new lead and copper rules using an extensive public engagement process from stakeholders that include a minimum of 60 days for public comment.
4. Set a lead and copper rule that sets 5 pbb as the maximum contaminant letter.
5. Shorten the period for lead service line replacement to 10 years.

“We greatly anticipate the implementation of the EPA’s Lead Strategy. We are highly supportive of the agency’s focus on decreasing inequities in lead poisoning through reducing community-level exposures, identifying communities, and engaging with stakeholders,” the letter continues. “We hope to see our recommendations taken into consideration as they will effectively strengthen public health protections and address legacy lead contamination for communities with the greatest exposures.”

The letter was signed by Reps. Diana DeGette, Nanette Barragán, Jesús “Chuy” García, Doris Matsui, Nikema Williams, Raúl M. Grijalva, Earl Blumenauer, Eleanor Norton, Sean Casten, Marie Newmann, Rashida Tlaib, Jahana Hayes, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Haley Stevens, Lisa Blunt-Rochester, Bobby Rush, and Karen Bass.

Read the full letter here and the EPA’s Lead Strategy here.