Ohio lawmakers want to replace all lead service lines, but it could cost billions

An Ohio bill would require the state replace all lead service lines, but some statewide organizations worry about the costs associated with the bill.

Ohio state Reps. Dontavius Jarrells, D-Columbus, and Monica Robb Blasdel, R-New Waterford, introduced Ohio House Bill 307 last year, which would require local water providers to work with the state to identify lead services lines, develop a plan to replace these lines with safe alternatives, and execute this plan over a 15 year time period.

“Those lead particles can seep into your water unknowingly and that then could be poisoning your children, your family, your relatives,” Jarrells said. “Then the impact of lead poisoning has, unfortunately, devastating impacts on a child’s cognitive abilities.”

The bill has had three hearings in the Ohio House Development Committee and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency would be responsible for overseeing this mandate if the legislation passes.

The Ohio Legislative Service Commission estimates the costs associated with the bill is more than $16 billion over the next 15 years. Costs could be offset by grants, loan funding, and various charges and rates imposed on customers.

“Everybody wants lead lines to be replaced, especially the mayors in our cities, but it’s a lot of money,” said Sarah Biehl, policy director at Ohio Mayors Alliance.

“It’s not the kind of thing that local governments can just raise sewer rates, raise water rates, and make that happen.”

The Ohio Municipal League would prefer to see direct funding for lead line replacement, said Kent Scarrett, the league’s executive director.

“We just know that our smaller communities that have smaller budgets, tighter budgets and less financial bandwidth find it more challenging to do this work,” he said. “We would want the state to do more direct funding for this infrastructure because it benefits the state as a whole.”

When asked about the cost associated with his bill, Jarrells responded by asking “what about the cost of families who are drinking this poisoned water?”

Jarrells is a survivor of lead poisoning as a child. He had take some speech pathology classes in elementary school due to some cognitive diminishment he believes were from lead poisoning.

“Lead poisoned victims are invisible because most people don’t even know what lead poisoning even is,” he said. “This bill, I believe, is the preventative measure to say we don’t want any more children poisoned by lead.”

Lead water service lines release low levels of toxin into drinking water that can lead to health issues. Drinking water can make up 20% or more of a person’s lead exposure, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Congress amended the Safe Drinking Water Act to stop the installation of any new lead service lines in 1986, but it did not require existing lines to be replaced.

Ohio has 745,000 lead service lines and nearly 4,000 Ohio children are tested for high levels of lead poisoning.

About 8.1% of the nation’s lead service lines are in Ohio, but only 3.6% of the population is in Ohio, according to the Ohio Environmental County report. Ohio ranked third in the nation for the most lead pipes in 2021, according to the EPA.

“We’re dealing with aging infrastructure that has yet to be replaced,” Jarrells said.

A federal mandate during the Biden administration requires states to replace lead service lines by 2037.

“We already have to do the work,” Jarrells said. “This bill is an attempt to codify a plan statewide.”

Many Ohio cities are already working on replacing lead service lines and Akron removed its last lead service at the end of last year.

“We’re extremely proud of being one of the first cities of our age and size to be completely lead line free,” Akron Mayor Shammas Malik said in a news release.

Akron started removing more than 55,000 lead service lines in the 1960s, said the city’s deputy service director Jeff Bronowski.

“The risk associated with lead is negligible now at this point,” he said.

The average cost to replace a water lead service line was about $5,000, Bronowski said.

Akron used some of their funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to help replace the lead lines, but their main source of funding for the last several years was through a state revolving loan fund.

“Your children are better and healthier for it,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a video message congratulating Akron.

For every dollar invested in lead service line removal in Ohio, the state would see a public health and economic benefit of $32 to $45, according to a 2024 report by the Ohio Environmental Council.

“It is going to cost a lot to do this, but the benefits are very high,” said Rob Moore, the principal for Scioto Analysis, a public policy analysis firm based in Columbus.

Replacing all the lead water pipes in Ohio would grow the state’s economy between $145 and $185 billion over the next 15 years, according to the report.

“If you care about economic growth, if you care about improving the future of Ohio, this is a good investment,” Moore said. “It is expensive, but the benefits are massive.”

Removing lead service lines in Ohio would lead to 9,700 fewer deaths from heart disease, 7,300 fewer cases of anemia, 3,800 cases of depression, 2,400 cases of coronary heart disease, 640 fewer infant deaths, 520 fewer cases of dementia, and 150 fewer cases of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder over the next fifteen years, according to the report.

Removing lead service lines could also lead to higher wages because of higher IQs, according to the report.

“What the policy will lead to is the reduction of a public health crisis,” said Alicia Smith with Junction Coalition, a Toledo nonprofit organization.