WILMINGTON, N.C. — During a Thursday visit to Wilmington, President Joe Biden touted $3 billion in newly released federal funding to help water utilities nationwide find and replace lead service lines.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included $15 billion to identify and replace lead service lines. The Environmental Protection Agency has distributed those funds in $3 billion segments, with Thursday’s announcement representing the third of those.

North Carolina’s portion of the funds is $76.2 million, which will be disbursed by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. That brings the total amount of lead service line funds North Carolina has received to $250.55 million.

“I’m determined to fix it and we’re finally moving. Until the United States of America, God love us, deals with this, how can we say we’re a leading nation in the world? For God’s sake, we’re better than this,” Biden said.

And while Thursday technically was an announcement of actions taken by the administration, it came against the backdrop of a close presidential race again pitting Biden against the presumptive GOP nominee, former President Donald Trump. Trump was forced to cancel a rally in Wilmington two weeks ago because of severe weather.

There is no safe level of lead in drinking water. Lead is a neurotoxin that can cause babies to be born early or too small; hinder learning in children and stunt their growth; and increase blood pressure and cause kidney problems in adults, according to the EPA.

“No matter whether it’s lead or forever chemicals, this president has demonstrated that he’s using every tool in the toolbox, whether it be resources from Congress or statutory authority from his agencies, to protect the drinking water for every single family in the country,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan, a North Carolina native and former secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, told The News & Observer Thursday.

Biden has said all of the estimated 9 million lead service lines nationwide should be replaced by the early 2030s. The EPA estimates that North Carolina has 300,000 lead service lines.

Ali Zaidi, the White House’s national climate adviser, told reporters the Biden administration’s vision of infrastructure is broader than roads, bridges and high-speed rail projects.

“Those are the projects above the ground that captivate our imagination. What’s equally important and perhaps more is us meeting our moral responsibility to our young people: delivering clean air and clean water,” Zaidi said.

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