Standard Guide for Using Publicly Available Data to Identify Schools and Vulnerable Communities at High Risk for Elevated Lead in Drinking Water

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1 Lead can enter drinking water when service lines or plumbing fixtures that contain lead corrode, especially where the water has high acidity or low mineral content. According to the EPA, lead typically enters school drinking water as a result of interaction with lead-containing plumbing materials and fixtures within the building (EPA 2019 EPA 2018, (5)). Although lead pipes and lead solder were not commonly used after 1986, water fountains and other fixtures were allowed to have up to 8 percent lead until 2014 (GAO, 2018 (2)). Consequently, both older and newer school buildings can have lead in drinking water at concentrations that exceed the NPDWR.  
4.2 Following the reports in 2015 of elevated lead levels in the water in Flint, Michigan, Congress passed the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act in 2016 (Public Law 114-322), which, among other things, amended the SDWA, to establish a grant program for states to assist school districts in voluntary testing for lead contamination in drinking water at schools. As a condition of receiving funds, school districts are required to test for lead using standards that are at least as stringent as those in federal guidance for schools.  
4.3 California’s State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Drinking Water initiated an aggressive program of sampling and public water systems supplying water to schools in 2018. California Assembly Bill 746 published on October 12, 2017, effective January 1, 2018, requires community water systems to test lead levels, by July 1, 2019, in drinking water at all California public, K-12 school sites that were constructed before January 1, 2010.  
4.4 Lobo (2021) (6) reports that two factors predominantly control lead leaching into the drinking water: (1) the presence or absence of lead-bearing plumbing materials, and (2) water quality that promotes the formation of soluble or insoluble lead corrosion products. This guide provides a method of using publicly-available...
SCOPE
1.1 As the General Accountability Office (GAO) reported in 2018 (2), the discovery of toxic levels of lead in drinking water in Flint, Michigan in 2015 renewed awareness about the risks that lead poses to public health. Exposure to lead can result in elevated blood lead levels and negative health effects. Children are at particular risk, because their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults, so protecting them from lead is important to lifelong good health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), elevated blood lead levels have been linked to anemia, kidney and brain damage, learning disabilities, and decreased growth. As a result of widespread human use, lead is prevalent in the environment; for example, it can be found in paint (lead in paint was banned in the United States in 1978)4 and soil, and can leach into drinking water from lead-containing plumbing materials, such as faucets and drinking fountains.  
1.2 Lead in school drinking water is a concern because it is a daily source of water for over 50 million children enrolled in public schools. The pattern of school schedules—including time off over weekends, holidays, and extended breaks—can contribute to standing water in the school’s plumbing system. If there is lead in the plumbing system, the potential for it to leach into water can increase the longer the water remains in contact with the plumbing. Estimating the risk of lead contamination of schools' drinking water at the State level is a complex and important challenge. Variable water quality among water systems and changes in water chemistry during distribution affect lead dissolution rates from pipes and fittings. In addition, the locations of lead-bearing plumbing materials are uncertain. EPA, 2002 (3), Triantafyllidou and Edwards, 2012 (4).  
1.3 The US EPA is responsible for enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) on Tribal land; there is no delegation of this ...

General Information

Status
Published
Publication Date
30-Apr-2023
Current Stage
Ref Project

Buy Standard

Guide
ASTM E3366-23 - Standard Guide for Using Publicly Available Data to Identify Schools and Vulnerable Communities at High Risk for Elevated Lead in Drinking Water
English language
5 pages
sale 15% off
Preview
sale 15% off
Preview

Standards Content (Sample)

This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the
Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.
Designation: E3366 − 23
Standard Guide for
Using Publicly Available Data to Identify Schools and
Vulnerable Communities at High Risk for Elevated Lead in
1,2
Drinking Water
This standard is issued under the fixed designation E3366; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (´) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.
INTRODUCTION
3
Sections 50105 and 50110 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (1) direct the US EPA to
identify schools and housing in vulnerable communities at high risk to lead exposure from water
supply infrastructure. The Agency has responded with its Guidance for Developing and Maintaining
a Service Line Inventory EPA 816-B-22-001 (August 2022) and the January 2021 Lead and Copper
Rule Revision. The Lead and Copper Rule Revision establishes new limits for lead and copper in
drinking water. This guide describes a series of steps to effectively identify schools and vulnerable
communities at risk of high lead levels in drinking water using only publicly-available information and
robust geographic information systems software and is consistent with the Predictive Modeling
approach described in Section 5.5 of Guidance for Developing and Maintaining a Service Line
Inventory. This guide complements the records review activities described in EPA’s lead service line
replacement guidance. Stakeholders can use the procedures described in this guide to rapidly assess
the likelihood of lead in water exceeding the limits in federal regulations (40 CFR 141 et seq.) without
the costs associated with inspecting water service lines and water service line connections at schools
and in vulnerable communities.
According to EPA:
Service line inventories are the foundation from which water systems take action to address a
significant source of lead in drinking water - lead service lines (LSLs). Establishing an inventory of
service line materials and identifying the location of LSLs is a key step in getting them replaced and
protecting public health. Lead service line replacement (LSLR) is not dependent on knowing the
location of all LSLs; in fact, simultaneously developing an inventory while conducting LSLR can have
many benefits. For example, systems can save costs by replacing LSLs when crews find them onsite
during service line investigations. Systems can also leverage the opportunity for LSLR by seeking
customer consent and private property access during service line investigation. Replacing LSLs in a
safe and prompt manner while crews are in the field for inventory development provides an
opportunity for public health benefits for consumers by more quickly eliminating this potential source
of lead exposure from drinking water. (EPA August 2022)
Copyright © ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959. United States
1

---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
E3366 − 23
1. Scope of lead concentrations exceeding the maximum contaminant
level (MCL), using publicly available data. These steps aug-
1.1 As the General Accountability Office (GAO) reported in
ment and complement the records review activities that the US
2018 (2), the discovery of toxic levels of lead in drinking water
EPA encourages as part of the LSLR program.
in Flint, Michigan in 2015 renewed awareness about the risks
1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the
that lead poses to public health. Exposure to lead can result in
safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the
elevated blood lead levels and negative health effects. Children
responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-
are at particular risk, because their growing bodies absorb more
priate safety, health, and environmental practices and deter-
lead than adults, so protecting them from lead is important to
mine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
lifelong good health. According to the Centers for Disease
1.7 This international standard was developed in accor-
Control and Prevention (CDC), elevated blood lead levels have
dance with internationally recognized principles on standard-
been linked to anemia, kidney and brain damage, learning
ization established in the Decision on Principles for the
disabilities, and decreased growth. As a result of widespread
Development of International Standards, Guides and Recom-
human use, lead is prevalent in the environment; for example,
mendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical
it
...

Questions, Comments and Discussion

Ask us and Technical Secretary will try to provide an answer. You can facilitate discussion about the standard in here.