LSL Policy Lowdown: September 14–20, 2026
🔎Legislative Scanner
Check out EPIC's legislative scanner to keep track of all the state LSL bills worth keeping an eye on.
Federal Updates
New School Lead Testing Data Comes With Caveats
TapWaterData’s new scorecard provides a snapshot of school lead testing across states. This could be a useful tool for water utilities as the LCRI ramps up testing requirements for schools and child care facilities. However, as with pretty much all data, coverage and quality vary quite a bit by state.
EPIC’s take: 🚩 Garbage in, garbage out: a universal data & modeling truth. A drum I’ll keep beating: data are only useful if you understand what you’re looking at and what questions they can answer. As this WaterOnline article points out, the scorecard data can help utilities identify sampling gaps, flag schools that may need follow-up, and understand where they may need to improve testing for LCRI compliance. But because states differ in how they conduct, report, and define testing—including different lead action levels—the data are not well suited for comparing trends across states (as tempting as it may be).
State Updates
New York Keeps Investing in LSL Loan Forgiveness
Governor Hochul announced $130 million in additional loan forgiveness for 24 communities across New York State through the Lead Infrastructure Forgiveness and Transformation (LIFT) program. LIFT provides additional loan forgiveness for Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) awards by redirecting funding from Clean Water SRFs. The program has provided over $290 million in additional assistance since 2024.
EPIC’s take: 👍State investment can help stretch limited federal dollars. With IIJA LSL funding winding down and future dedicated LSL funding uncertain, programs like LIFT can help communities keep replacements moving. But LIFT still relies on communities successfully accessing SRF financing, which can be challenging for small and under-resourced systems facing high upfront application costs. Direct state funding to municipalities (similar to NY S1850-B and NY A8190) could help reach communities that struggle to navigate the complicated and competitive SRF process.
Want to learn more?
Visit EPIC's LSL Policy Lowdown page, LSL Replacement Initiative page, and our Lead Innovation Hub.
