TOPEKA – (February 6, 2024) – Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach lead a coalition of state attorneys general in opposition to an Environmental Protection Agency regulation that would require the replacement of more than 9 million lead pipes across the country. The proposed rule would cost individual homeowners thousands of dollars.

“This is another example of unnecessary overreach by the Biden administration. Americans are already burdened by rising energy and utility costs and crushing inflation, and this proposal just adds insult to injury.” Kobach said. “The EPA should abandon it.”

The multi-state coalition strongly opposes the EPA’s “National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for Lead and Copper,” because the regulations would increase utility costs for everyone and force private homeowners to pay to replace their own lines if they contain lead and connect to a city line.

“This proposed rule creates a heavy-handed mandate on states that is nigh impossible to comply with and is also a financial burden on already squeezed middle class families,” the joint letter reads. “It is unworkable, underfunded, and unnecessary and should be withdrawn.”

The attorneys general estimate the removal and replacement of the pipes would cost more than $60 billion. Congress earmarked only $15 billion for the undertaking. The EPA estimates it will cost an average of $4,700 or between $1,200 and $12,300 per line that needs to be replaced.

According to the letter, pipe removal and replacement will not accomplish the EPA’s stated goal of eliminating lead contaminants.

“It sets an almost impossible timeline, will cost billions and will infringe on the rights of the States and their residents – all for benefits that may be entirely speculative,” the joint letter reads.

Costs aren’t the sole concern of the attorneys general, however. The joint letter warns that the EPA has no authority to enact the “arbitrary and capricious” regulations.

Kobach lead the multistate coalition. He was joined by 14 other states including Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. 

To read the letter, click here.