Illinois Sen. Villivalam’s lead service line notice and access bill passes House and Senate

Passed bill authored by State Sen. Ram Villivalam aims to expand notification options and access requirements for lead service line replacements, while creating limited exemptions for high-performing water systems, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

In the House, 74 Democrats and nine Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while 29 Republicans opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, 37 Democrats and 14 Republicans voted in favor of the bill.

Villivalam introduced the bill in the Illinois Senate on Feb. 6, 2026 during the 104th session.

The legislation, known as SB4025, was passed on May 28, 2026 during the general assembly session 104.

According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill’s official text as follows: “Amends the Environmental Protection Act. Provides that an owner or operator of a community water supply may, by an additional method approved by the State, give written notice of the existence of lead service lines that are connected to buildings. Provides that an owner or operator of a community water supply that performs at least 4,000 lead service line replacements per year or exceeds a statutorily prescribed lead service line replacement rate is exempt from a provision that prohibits partial lead service line replacements. Provides that, in a municipality with a population of more than 1,000,000 inhabitants, the owner of a private property upon which there is located a renter-occupied building, a building that is used as a day care, or a multi-dwelling building must allow the community water supply access to replace the lead service line on the private side of the property.”

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends the Environmental Protection Act’s lead service line rules by allowing community water supplies to use an additional State-approved method to provide written notice to building owners and occupants when lead service lines are identified. The bill also creates a narrow exemption from the existing ban on partial lead service line replacements for systems that have performed at least 4,000 replacements per year since 2025 or that exceed the highest statutory replacement rate. In municipalities with more than 1 million residents, it further requires owners of renter-occupied, day care or multi-dwelling buildings to allow water utilities access to replace lead service lines on private property, enforceable through available legal remedies.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Aarón M. Ortíz (Democrat-1st District), Rep. Gregg Johnson (Democrat-72nd District), and Rep. Kevin John Olickal (Democrat-16th District), along with five other sponsors.

Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.

You can read more about bills and other measures here.

Villivalam graduated from George Washington University in 2009 with a BS.

Villivalam, a Democrat, was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 2019 to represent the state’s 8th Senate District, replacing previous state senator Ira Silverstein.

Lawmakers listed as “Not Voting” were present for the vote but did not cast a vote. Those marked as having an “Excused Absence” were not present and formally provided a reason for their absence, which was accepted.