The Trump administration on Thursday proposed retooling a 1991 rule on lead and cooper contamination in drinking water, but critics said the change slows by 20 years the timeline for removing aging lead service lines that could expose children to a toxin known to harm developing brains. Under the rule, community water systems would be required among other things to identify the most impacted areas to find and fix sources of lead when a sample in a home exceeds 15 parts per billion. The EPA said water systems would also have to follow new, improved sampling procedures and adjust sampling sites to better target locations with higher lead levels.
