Craftsman's Cribsheet: Unleaded Brass for Plumbing Use

AB1953 California
California Assembly Bill 1953 (AB1953) prohibits the use of any pipe, pipe or plumbing fitting, or fixture intended to convey or dispense water for human consumption through drinking water or cooking that is not lead free in California. Products that do not meet the criteria as outlined by AB1953 by January 1, 2010, cannot be sold in the state of California. bit.ly/PMPA-PM8a

S.3874
Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act
Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act — Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to exempt from prohibitions on the use or sale of lead pipes, solder, and flux: (1) pipes or pipe or plumbing fittings or fixtures, including backflow preventers, that are used exclusively for nonpotable services such as manufacturing, industrial processing, irrigation, outdoor watering or any other uses where the water is not anticipated to be used for human consumption; or (2) toilets, bidets, urinals, fill valves, flushometer valves, tub fillers, shower valves, service saddles, or water distribution main gate valves that are two inches in diameter or larger.

Redefines “lead free” under such Act to mean: (1) not containing more than 0.2% lead when used with respect to solder and flux (current law); and (2) not more than a weighted average of 0.25% lead when used with respect to the wetted surfaces of pipes and pipe and plumbing fittings and fixtures. Establishes a formula to calculate the weighted average lead content of a pipe or pipe or plumbing fitting or fixture. bit.ly/PMPA-PM8b

U.S. Code Title 42.
The Public Health and Welfare
Chapter 6A. Public Health Service
Subchapter XII. Safety of Public Water Systems
Part B. Public Water Systems
Section 300g–6. Prohibition on use of lead pipes, solder, and flux
“No person may use any pipe, any pipe or plumbing fitting or fixture, any solder, or any flux, after June 19, 1986, in the installation or repair of — (i) any public water system; or (ii) any plumbing in a residential or nonresidential facility providing water for human consumption, that is not lead free (within the meaning
of subsection (d)).