2020年经济学人 饮用水危机--数百万美国人都在喝含铅水(3)

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With federal help, states and cities might move faster. One concern is regulation. The EPA last updated its Lead and Copper¹ Rule, setting out how fast lead pipes should be replaced, in 1991. It requires 7% of them in a given site to be swapped² out yearly, though this has evidently not been enforced. An amendment³ the EPA sent to the White House in July, which is still awaiting Donald Trump’s signature, would relax that to 3% a year. (It would also tighten⁴ rules to speed replacement⁵ in schools.) Mr Olson calls the proposed change “appalling”.

在联邦政府的帮助下，各州和各城市的行动可能会加快。其中的一个问题是监管问题。美国环境保护局最近一次更新铅和铜的规定是在1991年，规定了铅水管的更换速度。它要求给定的场所每年更换7%的铅水管，尽管显然没有强制执行该规定。美国环境保护局7月送交白宫的一份修正案仍在等待唐纳德·特朗普的签署，该修正案将铅水管的更换速度放宽至每年3%。（它还将收紧规定，加快学校的铅水管更替速度。）奥尔森称提议的改革“骇人听闻”。

Cities want to make changes, but swapping⁶ out 10m service lines could cost $50bn, says Mr Olson (it is cheaper to do it in bulk). Twice this summer the Democrat-run House of Representatives passed bills to start paying for it—first a $22.5bn authorisation, then an appropriations⁷ bill that set aside $1bn for this fiscal⁸ year. Proposed infrastructure⁹ bills also include sums for removing lead pipes. But in the Senate such plans have, so far, led nowhere.

奥尔森表示，城市希望做出改变，但更换1000万条服务线路可能需要500亿美元（批量更换成本更低）。今年夏天，民主党管理下的众议院两次通过法案，开始为其买单，首先是225亿美元的授权，然后是为本财年划拨10亿美元的拨款法案。拟议的基础设施法案还包括拆除铅水管的费用。但到目前为止，此类计划在参议院毫无进展。

Joe Biden’s administration could nudge things on. The EPA may set higher standards again and might order overdue¹⁰ public hearings on the topic, perhaps in badly afflicted¹¹ cities like Flint. A bill co-sponsored by a Republican congressman¹² from New Jersey¹³, Chris Smith, would require all lead pipes to be replaced within a decade. His timetable may look too ambitious, but waiting for 500 more years to fix the problem isn’t much of a plan, either.

乔·拜登政府可以推动事态发展。美国环境保护局可能会再次制定更高的标准，并可能会下令就这一问题举行早应完成的的听证会，也许会在弗林特这样的饱受摧残的城市举行。新泽西州共和党国会议员克里斯·史密斯联合发起的一项法案将要求在10年内更换所有铅水管。他的时间安排看起来过于艰巨，但再等500年来解决这个问题也算不上是什么计划。