MICHIGAN LEAD AND COPPER RULE HANDBOOK EMPOWERING RESIDENT WATCHDOGS TO CONDUCT INVESTIGATIONS OF THEIR WATER SYSTEMS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many thanks to all of the individuals that provided guidance regarding the drafting of the Lead and Copper Rule Handbook, especially: Elin Betanzo, Safe Water Engineering, LLC; Jeremy Orr and Cyndi Roper, Natural Resources Defense Council, and; Jill Ryan and Alicia Smith, Freshwater Future. Many thanks to the several Great Lakes Environmental Law Center interns that assisted with this project, including: Molly Williams, Andrew Kral, Nate Frischkorn, Dave Duckett, and Valeriya Epshteyn. Many thanks to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and the Joyce Family Foundation for their support regarding the development of the Michigan Lead and Copper Rule Handbook. TABLE OF CONTENTS i Introduction: How to Use the Michigan Lead D-1 Section D: Public Education Regarding Lead in and Copper Rule Handbook Drinking Water iii Introduction to the Lead and Copper Rule D-1 Consumer Confidence Reports iii Introduction to the Freedom of Information Act D-3 Water System Advisory Councils (FOIA) E-1 Section E: Corrosion Control Treatment A-1 Section A: Identifying Lead Service Lines in the E-1 Water Departments Required to Use Corrosion Drinking Water System Control Treatment A-1 Preliminary and Complete Distribution System E-1 The Different Corrosion Control Treatment Materials Inventories Methods and How Water Departments Select a A-2 Methods of Identifying Lead Service Lines Corrosion Control Treatment Method A-3 Requirement for Water Departments to Notify E-3 Monitoring the Effectiveness of Corrosion Control Households Served By a Lead Service Line or a with Water Quality Parameters Service Line of Unknown Material F-1 Section F: Lead Service Line Removal and B-1 Section B: Monitoring Lead Levels in Tap Replacement Water F-1 Lead Service Line Replacement Requirement B-1 Selecting Households for Tap Sampling F-2 Partial Lead Service Line Replacement Ban B-2 Frequency of Lead Monitoring and Number of Monitoring Sites B-4 Tap Sampling Procedures B-5 Consumer Notice of Lead and Copper Monitoring Results C-1 Section C: Lead Action Level C-1 Measuring for the Lead Action Level—the 90th Percentile C-1 Public Health Advisory and Public Education Requirements After a Water System Exceeds the Lead Action Level C-4 Water Testing at Households Upon Request C-5 Lead Service Line Removal and Replacement C-5 Assess Corrosion Control Treatment HOW TO USE THE MICHIGAN LEAD AND COPPER RULE HANDBOOK INTRODUCTION The first people to raise the alarm about high levels of Resident watchdogs are often the first to learn about lead in Flint’s drinking water were not the state, local, or drinking water issues, but the last to be listened to. The federal government, or the local water department. They Michigan Lead and Copper Rule Handbook has been were Flint residents. These residents continued to raise prepared as a free, public resource to empower resident the alarm despite being constantly told by their state and watchdogs to conduct their own investigation of their local government that their water was safe to drink. water system by enabling residents to get the important information and to ask the right questions. Thanks to the persistence of resident watchdogs, it was discovered that not only did Flint’s water have high In preparing this Handbook, the Great Lakes Environ- levels of lead, but that the water department and the mental Law Center submitted over 70 Freedom of Department of Environmental Quality had violated and Information Act requests to the State and to local water manipulated the EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule, the departments to see how the key revisions made in 2018 primary regulation that controls the level of lead in to Michigan’s Lead and Copper Rule are being imple- drinking water. mented. With this Handbook, resident watchdogs will be prepared to begin their own investigations of their While the Flint Water Crisis was severe, unfortunately own water department. Flint is not the only city that has struggled to control the levels of lead in drinking water. With a The Handbook is made up of six sections that light shined on the provide information on the main requirements THE MICHIGAN problem, many in the Michigan Lead and Copper Rule: LEAD AND COPPER Michigan communi- RULE HANDBOOK ties are now CONTAINS: confronting their own IDENTIFYING LEAD SERVICE LINES IN THE DRINKING WATER SYSTEM 21 sample problems regarding high levels of lead in Freedom of drinking water. MONITORING LEAD LEVELS IN TAP WATER Information Act Requests Michigan amended its LEAD ACTION LEVEL Lead and Copper Rule that resident watchdogs can in 2018 to make it submit to EGLE and/or their PUBLIC EDUCATION REGARDING LEAD IN much more strict. water department for public DRINKING WATER records related to lead in However, the Rule is drinking water. still very complex. CORROSION CONTROL TREATMENT Many Michiganders 34 watchdog have important questions about lead in LEAD SERVICE LINE REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT actions their drinking water, that residents can take and whether their to investigate how their water is safe to drink, water department is cook, or bathe with. implementing the Michigan Answers to these Lead and Copper Rule. simple questions can be difficult to come by. MICHIGAN LEAD AND COPPER RULE HANDBOOK i HOW TO USE THE MICHIGAN LEAD AND COPPER RULE HANDBOOK ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE • We the People of Detroit The Lead and Copper Rule is complicated. Even with www.wethepeopleofdetroit.com this Handbook, resident watchdogs will still have A community-based grassroots organization that aims questions about their drinking water. Additionally, to inform, educate, and empower Detroit residents on resident watchdogs will need help to address problems as imperative issues surrounding civil rights, land, water, they come up. education, and the democratic process. We the People • Great Lakes Environmental Law Center of Detroit also delivers water to households in need of 4444 Second Avenue, Detroit, MI 48201 water relief. www.glelc.org / [email protected] / 313-782-3372 • People’s Water Board Coalition We are lawyers that can help you draft your Freedom www.peopleswaterboard.org of Information Act Request, answer questions you have A coalition of three dozen grassroots groups, non- about the Michigan Lead and Copper Rule, and help governmental, faith-based, community-based, and you address concerns you may have about the safety of labor organizations who have come together to fight for your drinking water. the human right to water. The People’s Water Board • Michigan Department of Environment, Great Coalition works with partners and allies to ensure that Lakes, and Energy’s Office of the Clean Water all people have a right to clean, accessible, and afford- Public Advocate able water and sanitation. Constitution Hall, P.O. Box 30473, Lansing, MI 48909-7973 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Clean Water Public Advocate: Ninah Sasy There are many additional resources that users of the [email protected] / 517-284-6843 Lead and Copper Rule Handbook may find useful as The Office of the Clean Water Public Advocate accepts accompanying materials: and investigates complaints and concerns related to • University of Michigan Graham Sustainability drinking water in Michigan. Institute – What You Need to Know About Michigan’s 2018 Lead and Copper Rule • Safe Water Engineering, LLC http://graham.umich.edu/project/revised-lead-and- www.safewaterengineering.com copper-rule/faq Specializes in drinking water quality consulting by providing engineering and policy consulting. • State of Michigan – MI Lead Safe https://www.michigan.gov/ • Freshwater Future mileadsafe/0,9490,7-392-92796---,00.html www.freshwaterfuture.org • State of Michigan – Lead and Copper in Freshwater Future works with community-based Drinking Water organizations and residents to develop community https://www.michigan.gov/egle/0,9429,7-135- participatory action for stewardship and education that 3313_3675_76638---,00.html promotes the voice, understanding, and action of the community members that have been most impacted • U.S. EPA - Optimal Corrosion Control Treatment by drinking water issues. Evaluation Technical Recommendations for Primacy Agencies and Public Water Systems • Natural Resources Defense Counsel https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2019-07/ www.nrdc.org documents/occtmarch2016updated.pdf Through its Safe Water Initiative, NRDC works to ensure that everyone has safe, sufficient, and affordable drinking water. MICHIGAN LEAD AND COPPER RULE HANDBOOK ii HOW TO USE THE MICHIGAN LEAD AND COPPER RULE HANDBOOK Introduction to the Lead and WHY IS COPPER ADDRESSED IN THE LEAD AND Copper Rule COPPER RULE? The Lead and Copper Rule focuses on corrosion control In 1991, the United States Environmental Protection treatment to reduce metal release into drinking water. While Agency (EPA) finalized the Lead and Copper Rule to lead and copper are very different drinking water contami- control the amount of lead in drinking water that is nants with different health effects, they are both materials provided by water utilities. While states are allowed to present in pipes and plumbing materials and can be released enact their own more stringent drinking water regula- into water through corrosion. tions, most have simply adopted and implemented the EPA Lead and Copper Rule. The Lead and Copper Rule was intended to reduce corrosion of both metals to limit their occurrence on drinking water. This Handbook focuses on lead because there is no safe level of lead The main source of lead in drinking water is lead in exposure, while copper is an essential nutrient at low levels. water service lines (the water pipes that connect a water main to household plumbing) and household plumbing. Lead was a commonly used material in service lines and household plumbing throughout the 20th century. When water runs through service lines and household Figure 1: Six Core Requirements of the plumbing containing lead, the lead may be released into Michigan Lead and Copper Rule the drinking water.