This story was updated May 17, 2024.
The Biden administration failed to verify data on lead in drinking water before disbursing money to remove the contaminant, causing some states to receive more than their fair share, according to a watchdog report.
The infrastructure law in 2021 included a record $15 billion for states to replace lead pipes, which can expose people to dangerous levels of the toxic heavy metal. There are over 9 million lead pipes in drinking water systems across the U.S., and EPA has proposed a regulation to phase them out within 10 years.
But the administration likely relied on inaccurate data when divvying up some of the infrastructure law funds last year, the EPA Office of Inspector General said Thursday. The agency was supposed to allocate dollars to each state according to their needs, but two states reported more lead pipes than they actually had, the watchdog said in a new memorandum.
