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EPA Administrator Pruitt Invites the Nation’s Leaders to Join EPA Efforts to Reduce Childhood Lead Exposure

02/05/2018
Contact Information: 
EPA Press Office (press@epa.gov)

WASHINGTON - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt is taking action to address lead contamination across America by formally inviting his colleagues and fellow Cabinet members to join with EPA in developing a federal strategy to reduce childhood lead exposure and associated health effects. 

“Lead exposure is a significant health and safety threat to children across the country,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “EPA is committed to taking action to address this threat, and improve health outcomes for our nation’s most vulnerable citizens – our children.”

Administrator Pruitt formally invited members of the President’s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children to participate in a Principals Meeting to discuss next steps in developing a federal strategy to reduce childhood lead exposure and eliminate associated health impacts. The invitation builds on Administrator Pruitt’s calls for a renewed effort to update our nation’s water infrastructure, especially in regard to lead in drinking water systems.  

The meeting will be held on February 15, 2018, from 2-3 pm at 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, in Washington, D.C.

BACKGROUND:

The President’s Task Force was established in 1997 and was charged to identify and assess environmental health risks and safety risks that may disproportionately affect children. In 2016 the Task Force published Key Federal Programs to Reduce Childhood Lead Exposures and Eliminate Associated Health Impacts. This report compiled federal efforts, planned or ongoing, to understand, prevent and reduce various sources of lead exposure to children. This report provides a starting point to this comprehensive effort

To read the letter, please visit here.