A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to Update the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Law to Ensure that Young Children Are Not Exposed to Hazardous Lead in Drinking Water.
Whereas, the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program has been extremely effective in reducing rates of child lead poisoning in the State; and
Whereas, no amount of lead in water is safe for young children, with even low concentration levels associated with lowered IQ, increased aggression, and the occurrence of ADHD; and
Whereas, North Carolina's lead hazard threshold for drinking water consumed by young children, as set forth in the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention statute, is 15 parts per billion, a standard set more than two decades ago when the permanent harmful effects of lead at lower concentrations were not understood; and
Whereas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the American Academy of Pediatrics now recommend that the action level be set as close to zero as possible; and
Whereas, the State Laboratory of Public Health has the capacity to measure lead accurately down to the level of 10 parts per billion; and
Whereas, lowering the definition of a lead hazard in young children's drinking water in the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention statute from 15 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion would extend lead exposure protection to an additional 30,000 young children in child care settings, resulting in measurable benefits to children and society in the form of reduced crime, health care cost‑savings, special education cost‑savings, and avoided losses in lifetime earnings; and
Whereas, there is uniform support for this proposal in the health care and child care communities; and
Whereas, this proposal does not affect water utilities, which are regulated under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and the Lead and Copper Rule; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 130A‑131.7(7) reads as rewritten:
"(7)	"Lead poisoning hazard" means any of the following:
…
g.	Any concentration of lead in drinking water equal to or greater than 10 parts per billion."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 130A‑131.9C(i) reads as rewritten:
"(i)	All remediation plans shall require that the lead poisoning hazards be reduced to the following levels:
…
(5)	Fewer than 10 parts per billion for lead in drinking water."
SECTION 3.  The Commission for Public Health shall adopt temporary and permanent rules to implement this act.
SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective on December 1, 2021.