New Jersey has an estimated 350,000 lead service lines in communities across the state. The fear is that the lead could one day contaminate drinking water supplies. That’s why Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill requiring every lead service line in the state to be removed and replaced within ten years. It’s also why last year’s federal bipartisan infrastructure bill included $15 billion to replace lead service lines. But elected officials and environmentalists were outraged after learning that New Jersey’s share of the federal funding is among the lowest in the nation, according to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Advocates say New Jersey got shortchanged because of outdated Environmental Protection Agency standards. U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) says that by completing a new needs survey — which estimates the cost to replace all lead lines in a state — the EPA can fix the formula and rebalance the funding allocation. The most recent survey was done seven years ago. “I believe that they’ll quickly complete this survey, because myself and others that represent underserved areas are pushing them to do so. We’ll see a difference in terms of the next round,” Pallone said.