Proposed Lead and Copper Rule Improvements Submitted to Office of Management and Budget for Approval

The National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWR) for Lead and Copper: Improvements (LCRI) were submitted by EPA to the President’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review on August 31, 2023. EPA has reiterated that the Agency plans to release the proposed LCRI by October 2023, with the intent to promulgate a final regulation ahead of the October 16, 2024, compliance deadline for the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR).

Typically, review by OMB is the last step before publishing proposed or final regulations in the Federal Register. It is unknown how long the Office will take to review the regulation; historically, these reviews have taken between 3 to 6 months. The proposed LCRR was received at OMB on June 6, 2019, the review was concluded on October 9, 2019, and the proposal was published in the Federal Register on November 13, 2023. The final LCRR was received by OMB on July 31, 2020, the review was concluded December 18, 2020, and the final regulation was published January 15, 2021. More recently, the proposed NPDWR for PFAS was received by OMB on October 6, 2022, the review concluded on March 3, 2023, and the proposed regulation was published in the Federal Register on March 29, 2023.