Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Georgia will receive much-needed funding to improve antiquated infrastructure throughout Georgia’s schools and protect students from lead in drinking water. In 2019, Georgia received an “F” in a non-profit study of lead in school drinking water. This unacceptable trend is why President Biden and Vice President Harris made replacing lead pipes a centerpiece of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – to deliver clean drinking water to families and children across America.
In coordination with this historic legislation, the Biden-Harris administration has released their Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan to deploy tools from every level of government to deliver clean drinking water, replace lead pipes, and remediate lead paint in our communities.
Read more about how President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will protect Georgia children’s health:
- A March 2019 report from the Environment America Research and Policy Center found 25 of 60 Atlanta-area schools tested had lead water levels above 15 parts per billion.
- In communities like Chatham County and Richmond County, each of which have three of the top 20 zip codes with the highest percentage of children with high levels of lead exposure in Georgia, paint on older housing is more likely to contain lead and seep into the soil.
- Unlike other states, Georgia has no laws or policy related to protecting students from lead in schools’ drinking water.
- The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will deliver $3 billion to states, tribes, and territories for lead service line replacement in 2022, and calls on states to prioritize underserved communities — all without raising taxes a single penny for middle-class families.
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