42 U.S.C. § 300j–24 — Lead contamination in school drinking water

(a) Within 100 days after October 31, 1988, the EPA had to send every state a list of drinking water cooler brands and models already identified elsewhere in the law as sources of lead. (b) The EPA must write a guidance document and a testing protocol. They help public water systems and schools find out how much lead is in school drinking water and fix it. The guidance must cover how to preserve water samples. It must also help states, schools, water systems, and the public figure out how much lead is in drinking water coolers and take steps to cut or remove it. It must include a protocol for identifying which coolers are adding lead to the water. The EPA can revise, republish, and resend this guidance whenever it decides that's needed, and it had to send the first version to the states within the same 100 days as the cooler list. (c) Each state must pass the guidance document, testing protocol, and cooler list on to local school districts, private nonprofit elementary and secondary schools, and day care centers. (d) The law also creates a voluntary grant program for testing and fixing lead in school and child care drinking water. Definitions: a "child care program" means the same thing as "early childhood education program" under a different education law. A "local educational agency" means a local school district, a tribal education agency, or a person who owns or runs a child care program facility. Setting it up: Within 180 days after December 16, 2016, the EPA had to create a voluntary grant program. It helps states assist local school districts, the water systems that serve them, and nonprofits with voluntary testing, compliance monitoring, and fixing lead contamination. It does the same for tribal consortia helping tribal schools. Direct grants: The EPA may also give grants straight to a local educational agency in a state that isn't part of the program, to any tribal education agency, to a water system in a non-participating state that helps with testing, monitoring, remediation, or technical assistance, or to a qualified nonprofit. Technical assistance: Starting no later than 1 year after October 23, 2018, the EPA must help grant recipients find the source of lead contamination, identify other federal and state grants, learn about financing options, and connect with nonprofits that can help. Applying: To get a grant, an applicant must apply the way the EPA requires. Priority: The EPA must give priority to applicants who will help schools and child care programs in low-income areas. Limits on spending: No more than 4 percent of the grant money can go to administrative costs. Guidance and public results: Grant recipients must spend the money following EPA's "3Ts for Reducing Lead in Drinking Water in Schools" guidance (or its successor), or state or tribal rules that are at least as strict. They must also make lead testing results available to the public — at their offices, and online when practical — and tell parent, teacher, and employee groups that the results are available. No replacing other funding: If a recipient already gets money from another federal agency, a state, or a private foundation for lead testing or cleanup, it must show that the grant funds don't replace that other funding. Funding: Congress may spend $30,000,000 in fiscal year 2022, $35,000,000 in 2023, $40,000,000 in 2024, $45,000,000 in 2025, and $50,000,000 in 2026.