William J. Quinn, the general counsel of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), said that the USCCB “supports the ambitious requirements” of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed revisions to the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation for Lead and Copper.
Quinn noted that the proposed revisions would require the replacement of lead water pipes, as well as “update testing protocols, increase testing in schools and reduce levels of water contamination.”
“The health and well-being of all people—especially the unborn, children, and pregnant mothers—is affected by the quality of drinking water,” Quinn wrote in a public comment submitted to the EPA. “In his landmark encyclical on ecology, Laudato Si’, Pope Francis dedicated an entire section exclusively to the importance of water for the world’s peoples and the planet.”
“In turn, the USCCB has continuously advocated for safe water standards and highlighted the connection of water with health of the most vulnerable,” Quinn continued. “Indeed, clean water is an expression of a ‘culture of life.’”