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Twenty four organizations join ANHE in urging EPA to protect health in the Lead and Copper Rule

The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE) submitted comments yesterday to EPA Administrator Michel Regan which were endorsed by twenty-four nursing and health based organizations asking for health based standards in drinking water and continued health protections throughout the course of lead service line replacement. 
 
ANHE Executive Director Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN issued the following statement: “We appreciate the Biden administration’s priority of replacing all lead service lines in the next ten years. As nurses, we know that access to safe lead-free drinking water is essential for families to live healthy and productive lives, as there is no safe level of lead. Yet, in states across the nation, children, especially children of color, are exposed to lead in their tap water at home and at school because of lead service lines. We strongly encourage the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take steps to ensure that water remains safe throughout lead service line replacement and urge EPA to set health based standards for lead in drinking water and continue lowering action levels until water does not exceed lead concentrations of 1 ppb. Communities across the country should be protected from exposure to lead and we urge EPA to quickly finalize the most thorough and health protective Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) Improvements as soon as possible and finalize a rule that prioritizes replacing all lead service lines within 10 years.”

Please see the following comments that were submitted to EPA. Thanks to the 24 groups below that signed onto these comments.

Twenty four organizations join ANHE in urging EPA to protect health in the Lead and Copper Rule

American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Nurses Association (ANA), American Nurses Association\California, American College of Nurse-Midwives, Association of Community Health Nursing Educators (ACHNE), Association of Public Health Nurses (APHN), California Nurses for Environmental Health & Justice (CNEHJ), Clean Air Now, Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations (CPHNO), Delaware Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN), National Association of Neonatal Nurses, National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health (NPWH), National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, National Association of School Nurses, National Black Nurses Association, Inc, National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations, National League for Nursing, New Hampshire Nurses Association Commission on Planetary Health, Ohio Nurses Association, SEIU, Society of Latinx Nurses