Lead Pipe Data by Area — Puerto Rico

Lead pipe replacement law in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico has not set its own territory-specific lead service line replacement deadline beyond the federal requirement below. Unlike Washington, DC, Puerto Rico holds its own primacy under the Safe Drinking Water Act -- the Puerto Rico Department of Health has been the designated primacy agency since 1980 -- and implements the federal Lead and Copper Rule Improvements through PRASA's own Service Line Inventory Program rather than EPA administering the territory's water systems directly. EPA has separately committed over $28 million in federal funding specifically to help PRASA complete its islandwide inventory and lead pipe replacement work faster, which is a funding program, not an accelerated regulatory deadline.

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.

• PRASA: Service Line Inventory Program →
• EPA: $27.4 Million to Reduce Lead in Drinking Water in Puerto Rico →
• EPA LCRI technical fact sheet: states and public water systems →
• EPA LCRI technical fact sheet: deferred deadlines →