The public-health jury has been in for some time now, and its verdict on lead pipes is clear and stark. Lead pipes providing drinking water to American households are guilty of serious, toxic and sometimes life-threatening health risks to children and adults.

For children, lead leached into drinking water is tied to behavior and learning problems, lower IQ, hyperactivity, slowed physical growth and hearing problems.

For adults, the dangers include heightened blood pressure, hypertension, decreased kidney function and reproductive problems for both men and women.

That’s why state Rep. Monica Robb Blasdel, R-New Waterford, deserves recognition for her efforts to shine a needed statewide spotlight on the problem and its potential solutions.

Toward those ends, she, along with state Rep. Dontavius Jarrels, D-Columbus, have introduced the Lead Line Replacement Act into the Ohio General Assembly. In short, their House Bill 307 would mandate replacement of all 745,000 lead service lines throughout the state within 15 years.

In theory, the goals of the detailed legislation are noble indeed. In practice, however, the aims appear untenable without breaking the bank of local communities, water districts and consumers themselves.

That’s because the price tag for such draconian work over the next 15 years has been estimated to cost a whopping $16 billion, according to the Ohio Legislative Service Commission’s fiscal analysis and impact statement on the bill.

As Kent Scarrett, executive director of the Ohio Municipal League, which represents 730 cities and villages, stated in opposition testimony to House Bill 307, “It would impose significant, unfunded costs on local governments and their residents without providing a sustainable funding mechanism to achieve those goals.”

Since neither the state nor local governments or water districts have the capital resources to fund such a gargantuan program fully, costs associated with it would be financed most likely through increased rates, rents, charges or other amounts imposed on water system customers permitted by the legislation. At a time when inflation in general and rising utility rates in particular are plaguing consumers, such a potentially massive spike in water costs would be unsustainable.

Similarly, the Ohio Mayors Alliance, of which Youngstown and Warren are members, argued more bluntly in its written opposition testimony on HB 307 in its current form: “Local governments simply cannot raise this money by raising water and sewer rates on residents.”

We would therefore urge Robb Blasdel and Jarrells to revamp the legislation to excise the unrealistic and cost-prohibitive 15-year mandate. With that said, several elements of their timely legislation have merit and would carry minimal price tags. They include:

● Establishing and maintaining a public database on the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s website that the public could monitor to track lead service line replacements throughout the state.

● Authorizing the director of the state’s Drinking Water Assistance Fund to expand expedited and partially forgivable loans as well as direct any of the state’s 4,400 public water systems to other state, federal or private grant and loan sources for lead abatement.

● Establishing training and certification programs for water system owners and for contractors and plumbers regarding best practices for lead service line replacements.

These and other elements in their well-intentioned public health legislation could help spur much needed action on this clear public health threat.

Fortunately, many communities have been working aggressively to get the lead out without the mandates in House Bill 307. Youngstown is a perfect example.

That city’s water department sent out notices more than a year ago to 11,000 customers warning them of the possibility of lead in their waterlines. At the same time, however, it has been executing a continuing and cost-effective plan of action.

The city is actively tackling lead pipe abatement this spring with multimillion-dollar projects in the Buckeye Plat, Crandall Park and other neighborhoods using multiple federal and state-funded grant and loan programs that greatly minimize costs to the city and its residents. Other communities would be well advised to take a page out of that city’s lead mitigation playbook.

Clearly action is needed, and it’s needed sooner rather than later. But any action must also be realistic, workable and fiscally responsible to communities and water utility customers. For all of its many assets, House Bill 307 in its current form fails that critical test.