Demand Water Standards

WHEREAS, the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act of 2014 required that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), along with State and public water systems (PWS), notify and provide information to homes and communities once the EPA receives drinking water data that indicates a household has drinking water levels above the EPA’s lead action level (0.015 mg/L); and

WHEREAS, rather than enforce this responsibility, current EPA leadership has chosen to rewrite the regulations to return older, less rigorous oversight, publishing this intent in the FEDERAL REGSITER (FR) 6/27/2017; and

WHEREAS, such callous disregard for the health and learning effects of even low levels of lead in the blood demonstrates a lack of understanding or concern for youth and pregnant women, particularly in communities of color and lower socio-economic standing; and

WHEREAS, there are approximately 98,000 public schools and 500,000 child care facilities not regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). These unregulated schools and child care facilities may or may not be conducting voluntary drinking water testing;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, Pride at Work (P@W) members demand that their federal legislators support and fully fund the standards and enforcement of both the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN) as written in 2014, through letters, phone calls, and personal visits; and

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, P@W chapters will rally for public programs that distribute water and nutrition to the areas affected by high lead levels; and

THEREFORE, BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, P@W will work with other unions and constituency groups within the AFL-CIO to demand that schools and child care centers be included in community water supply testing and remediation plans in order to resolve problems quickly and effectively.

Submitted by Francis Nichols III, DC-Baltimore Chapter
Approved August 25, 2018