The agreement provides assistance to kansas department of health and environment to implement a program of voluntary testing for lead in drinking water at local schools and child care centers

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 awarded the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) $593,000 under the Voluntary School and Child Care Lead Testing and Reduction Grant Program (CFDA 66.444) for the period of October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2027. The award funds a comprehensive voluntary lead testing and mitigation program targeting schools and child care facilities across Kansas, with emphasis on facilities constructed before 1988 and those with documented elevated lead levels. KDHE will contract with a vendor to conduct full-service implementation of lead testing at consumption fixtures, provide compliance monitoring, and deliver educational outreach to all participating schools and child care facilities regarding lead contamination risks and testing importance.

In addition to testing activities, KDHE will manage a limited mitigation funding sub-award process to assist qualified schools and child care facilities that complete sampling and identify elevated lead sources exceeding the 10 parts per billion threshold. The sub-award funding will support both short-term and permanent mitigation measures prioritized by KDHE based on the number and severity of elevated lead levels and available funding. By addressing lead in drinking water at early childhood and educational facilities, the program aims to reduce childhood lead exposure through systematic identification of contamination sources and implementation of targeted remediation actions.

Specifically, the recipient will promote testing and conducting oversight for lead contamination in drinking water in schools and child care facilities that are targeted for testing and mitigation efforts. Targeting efforts will focus on the schools and child care facilities with high lead levels and the facilities that were built before 1988 that are more likely to contain lead. IT is the goal of kdhe to reduce childhood lead exposure at these facilities by testing for lead, identifying potential lead sources, and taking mitigation actions when indicated from testing. Activities:the activities include testing water at fixtures used for consumption at schools and child care facilities in targeted areas. Testing may also be conducted at facilities to ensure compliance monitoring. Providing education about lead and the importance of testing to all schools and child care facilities. Mitigation actions will include, and are not limited to, identifying facilities that meet established criteria for mitigation which is 10PPB in a water sample. Limited mitigation funding assistance to schools and child care facilities will be made available through a kdhe approved sub-award process and will be managed by kdhe. Subrecipient:kdhe will provide funding sub-awards to qualified schools and child care facilities for limited mitigation actions that completed sampling and identified elevated sources of lead within their facilities. These could include short-term and permanent measures for mitigation as approved by kdhe based on a prioritization list, numbers and levels of elevated lead levels, and availability of funds.outcomes:the anticipated deliverables include to continue the services of the contracted vendor to provide full-service implementation for lead testing in schools and child care facilities. Use the EPA's 3T's for reducing lead in drinking water guidance for continued implementation. Continue the implementation of the state lead testing in drinking water in schools and child care facilities management strategy that supports a robust training, sampling, and maintenance plan that protects children from lead exposure now and in the future. Providing results of the testing for lead contamination in school and child care facility drinking water carried out using grant funds and notifying parents, teachers, and organizations of the availability of the results. Prioritization of testing to target older facilities that are more likely to contain lead plumbing, and facilities with high lead levels from fixtures used for consumption purposes. Developing a regular testing program under the initiative and establishment of routine practices such as those outlined in the 3TS guidance. The expected outcomes include schools and child care facilities implementing a testing program and mitigating lead exposure by utilizing the 3TS toolkit in determining best action to take for mitigation. The reduction of children's exposure to lead in drinking water. Improvement of staff and community knowledge on lead in drinking water and other environmental harms. Water quality improvement and lead exposure reduction in drinking water and establishment of routine practices such as those outlined in the 3TS guidance. The intended beneficiaries include the residents of the state of kansas.