DES MOINES, IOWA (October 16, 2023) — The Biden Administration’s EPA announced on Friday, October 13, its withdrawal of a burdensome cybersecurity mandate that Iowa Attorney General Bird challenged in a lawsuit in March 2023. This mandate would have significantly raised water prices for Iowans in small and rural public water systems. Iowa joined the Missouri-led lawsuit, along with Arkansas and the American Water Works Association and National Rural Water Association.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird released the following statement in response:
“While the Biden Administration’s burdensome, red-tape water regulations sought to harm our pocketbooks and small towns, we took the EPA to court to protect Iowans. The EPA’s illegal mandate hurt 93% of our water systems, each of which serve between 25 and 3,300 people. With these strict mandates in place, Iowans would have been slapped with inflated water bills with no benefit. We’re glad that the Biden Administration decided to follow the law and withdraw their illegal water regulations. In a time of soaring inflation, today’s win provides hardworking Iowans, including those on fixed incomes, some well-deserved relief with their water bills.”
