Congressman Krishnamoorthi Leads Six Members of Illinois Delegation in Urging Trump EPA to Release Funds for Lead Pipe Replacement

WASHINGTON - Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) led six members of the Illinois congressional delegation in urging Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin to immediately release federal funds appropriated for the replacement of dangerous lead service lines. The letter, also signed by Illinois Reps. Eric Sorensen, Jonathan L. Jackson, Jesús "Chuy" García, Jan Schakowsky, Brad Schneider, and Danny Davis, warns that delays in funding threaten public health and safety across Illinois and the nation.

"Communities across the nation are already rapidly falling behind their obligations to meet the EPA's Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, and further delays put children and families at risk of easily preventable lead poisoning," the members wrote. "Recent reports that the Trump Administration has withheld or delayed the release of federal funding for political reasons are deeply concerning and represent a dangerous politicization of resources that are vital to public health and safety."

The members emphasized that "there is no safe level of lead exposure," citing CDC data showing that nearly 500,000 children under age five in the United States currently have high levels of lead in their blood. The letter describes the devastating and irreversible effects of lead exposure on children's development, learning, and health outcomes.

Highlighting the scope of the crisis in Illinois, the members pointed to "Chicago's estimated 400,000 lead service lines-the most in the country-" and noted that "full replacement for each service line often approaches $35,000 per household." They added that communities across the state face the same challenges, including Peoria, where "an estimated 10,500 lead service lines require replacement" and where progress has been slowed by high costs and limited budgets.

Congress dedicated $15 billion for lead service line replacement through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, including $3 billion in FY25 funds through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF). However, the members warned that those funds "have not been delivered to the communities that sorely need them."

"Federal resources are not partisan tools-they are vital lifelines intended to serve all Americans," the letter states. "Using federal funds as leverage against communities based on political considerations represents a dangerous abuse of power that undermines public trust and puts lives at risk."

The lawmakers called on Administrator Zeldin to "take swift action to release all appropriated federal funds that have been undistributed for lead service line replacement and to take immediate steps to reduce administrative bottlenecks in the future."

"Every year of delay in replacing these lead pipes condemns another generation of children to the lifelong consequences of lead exposure," they wrote. "The EPA has set realistic deadlines to protect public health; now it must provide the resources to meet them."

The letter is available here.