Yesterday, New York governor Kathy Hochul signed the Lead Pipe Right to Know Act (S5512/A6115). This new law will result in more comprehensive inventories of drinking water service lines, particularly lead service lines, which are a public health threat and need to be replaced. Online interactive maps by addresses within the utility districts will also be required.
In her approval message, Governor Hochul states: “I fully support the goals of this legislation, which aims to protect New Yorkers from lead poisoning. There is no amount of lead that is safe for ingestion, and I am pleased that New York will be a national leader in removing lead from our drinking water.”
This new law also recognizes the obvious: Water utilities need to know where lead service lines are so that they can efficiently plan for their replacement and leverage state and federal funding for those…