Lead Sponsors: Representative Dontavious Jarrells and Representative Monica Robb Blasdel
Status: Third hearing in House Development (October 8, 2025)
Description: The bill creates the Lead Service Line Replacement Program under the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) with the intent to replace all lead service lines in the state.
Under the program, all owners and operators of public water systems will be required to identify lead service lines connected to their system and oversee their removal. The bill includes several requirements for the program.
Fiscally speaking, for projects to remove and/or replace lead service lines, the system owner is subject to Prevailing Wage Law. The system owner can recover costs associated with replacing lead service lines, verifying the composition of lead-unknown service lines, replacing nonlead service lines when mandated, and reimbursing customers who replace lead service lines on their own property. Cost recovery would be done through water service rates.
The OEPA is authorized to make loans through the Drinking Water Assistance Fund (DWAF) to system owners to replace lead service lines, but is not required to do so.
The Legislative Service Commission estimates that the total cost of identifying and replacing lead service lines would be $16.1 billion over 15 years. For context, the total loan amount from the DWAF in 2025 was $350 million. If that level were maintained and dedicated solely to the Lead Service Line Replacement Program over the next 15 years, it would total about $5.3 billion. That would leave local governments responsible for paying the remaining $10.8 billion through higher water service rates for customers.
CCAO Position: No position (as of October 2025)