经济学人下载:饮用水危机--数百万美国人都在喝含铅水(3)

With federal help, states and cities might move faster. One concern is regulation. The EPA last updated its Lead and Copper Rule, setting out how fast lead pipes should be replaced, in 1991. It requires 7% of them in a given site to be swapped out yearly, though this has evidently not been enforced. An amendment 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 tighten rules to speed replacement 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 swapping 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 appropriations bill that set aside $1bn for this fiscal year. Proposed infrastructure 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 overdue public hearings on the topic, perhaps in badly afflicted cities like Flint. A bill co-sponsored by a Republican congressman from New Jersey, 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。