Get the Lead Out of Schools Act

Get the Lead Out of Schools Act

This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to (1) test for lead in drinking water at schools and day care facilities, and (2) create a grant program for lead testing and remediation efforts in schools and day care facilities.

Specifically, the EPA must promulgate a national primary drinking water regulation for schools and day care facilities that

• establishes a lead action level (a level of lead in drinking water that triggers additional actions to control lead contamination) that is no more than 15 parts per billion;
• directs each public water system to sample for lead in the drinking water at schools and day care facilities if the EPA determines there is a risk that the lead in the drinking water will meet or exceed the action level; and
• requires public water systems that serve schools or day cares that meet or exceed the action level to notify the local educational agency, the relevant local health agencies, the municipality, and the state as soon as practicable, but no later than 24 hours after the system receives the sampling results.

The EPA must also establish a grant program for (1) testing drinking water in schools and day care facilities for lead contamination, and (2) remediating lead contamination in such drinking water by replacing lead pipes and certain plumbing materials with lead-free material.