In January, Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) sponsored legislation seeking to invalidate the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) through the Congressional Review Act procedure.
According to the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), which reported on the Palmer bill, the CRA allows a simple majority of each chamber of Congress, along with the signature of the president, to repeal a “recently-promulgated regulation in its entirety.” Federal regulators would also be blocked from ever again implementing a rule that is “substantially the same” as the one thrown out through CRA action, according to AMWA.
The CRA has been used by both political parties during presidential transitions to strike down multiple regulations that had been finalized in the closing months of the previous presidential administrations. AMWA noted that Congressional Republicans are likely to introduce a number of CRA proposals this year in an effort to roll back regulations finalized near the end of the Biden administration, but they would still need to be brought up for a vote and pass.
As of mid-January, AMWA said Rep. Palmer had not made any public statements about his legislation, but AMWA said it had reached out to his staff to discuss the implications of the proposal.
AMWA noted that a complete repeal of the LCRI would cause the earlier Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, promulgated late in the first Trump administration, to be immediately reinstated and thus reinstating the LCRR’s compliance date to Oct. 16, 2024. This could thereby leave water systems across the country immediately out of compliance with a rule of which some requirements were put on hold four years ago.
AMWA said in this scenario, additional action by EPA or Congress would be necessary to either make further revisions to that regulation, or protect water systems from harsh enforcement actions. AMWA said it has made Congressional staff aware of these considerations.
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