LSL Policy Lowdown: August 3–16, 2026
🔎Legislative Scanner
Check out EPIC's legislative scanner to keep track of all the state LSL bills worth keeping an eye on.
Local Updates
🏆Wins
Flint, MI officially removes its last lead service line. Ten years and roughly $140 million later, the city of Flint has completed replacement of 11,600 LSLs
EPIC’s take: 👏A major milestone for the city whose 2016 drinking water crisis sparked national action to strengthen public health protection, and kick-started LSL replacement. While there is certainly reason to celebrate, the work doesn’t end with the last pipe. The erosion of public trust can have lasting consequences for water utilities, underscoring why it is better to be proactive than reactive when it comes to lead in drinking water.
💡Spotlight
Chicago’s mayoral candidates are campaigning on LSL replacement. Candidates criticized the city’s current replacement program as inefficient, pointing to high costs and red tape. They also highlight that Chicago has spent only a third of the $300 million it has been allotted through IIJA funding.
EPIC’s take: 👀 There’s a lot to unpack here. First, some perspective on the scale of the challenge: Chicago has roughly 389,000 active LSLs—more than any other city in the country, and more than the total number of LSLs in 11 states. Now add the logistical challenges of digging through pavement and concrete in a dense urban area, and it’s easy to see why replacement costs may be higher than in surrounding suburbs, where crews can often work through lawns.
That said, there are opportunities for Chicago to improve efficiency. Based on past contracts, the city could have reduced costs by avoiding unnecessary restrictions on contractor crew size, and reducing or waiving insurance requirements that are not well suited to horizontal infrastructure projects, for example. The city is also doing some things right, including coordinating LSL replacement with other water infrastructure upgrades.
It’s also important to keep in mind that IIJA funding is not distributed to municipalities upfront. States reimburse eligible costs after invoices are submitted, so the amount of funding spent to date does not necessarily reflect how quickly the city could be completing replacements.
Ultimately, the lack of transparency around costs and contracting is what makes it difficult to assess whether Chicago—or any other city— is spending too much, where the biggest bottlenecks are, and what could be done differently to accelerate replacements.
Want to learn more?
Visit EPIC's LSL Policy Lowdown page, LSL Replacement Initiative page, and our Lead Innovation Hub.
