Jeanne Briskin is special assistant to Michael Cook, director of the US Environmental Protection Agency Office of Drinking Water. She directs a special task force developing regulations on lead in drinking water. After proposing a corrosion by-products rule last August that called for a lead standard to be monitored at distribution system entry points and a treatment technique triggered by certain tap-sample action levels, the agency recently indicated it is considering promulgating a final rule calling for a lead standard at the tap. J.B. McCraw, staff writer for the AWWA Washington Affairs Office, spoke with Briskin about this controversial topic during an interview conducted May 23 at agency headquarters in Washington, D.C.