Lead Pipe Data by Area — North Carolina

Lead pipe replacement law in North Carolina

North Carolina has not set its own state-specific lead service line replacement deadline beyond the federal requirement below. The rule is implemented through the NC Department of Environmental Quality's Public Water Supply Section, which required every public water system to submit a baseline inventory by October 16, 2024 and notify customers by November 15, 2024 under the federal Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, rather than setting an earlier state-specific replacement date. NC DEQ's Public Water Supply Section offers informational guidance and a utility-facing submission portal, not a public address-level aggregator.

Separately from any state law, the EPA's federal Lead and Copper Rule Improvements require every water system nationwide to submit a baseline inventory and an approved replacement plan by November 1, 2027, then fully replace all lead and "galvanized requiring replacement" lines under its control on a schedule of 10 years or less from that date, replacing at least 10% of its known lead/GRR lines per year. A narrow exception allows a longer schedule only for the roughly 1% of systems with an unusually dense concentration of lead lines, and partial (non-emergency) replacements are prohibited.

• NC DEQ: Lead Service Line Replacement →
• EPA LCRI technical fact sheet: states and public water systems →
• EPA LCRI technical fact sheet: deferred deadlines →