Roma upsets Wolfsburg while Lyon and Chelsea both win as women's Champions League begins

Roma opened its women's Champions League campaign with an upset 1-0 win against two-time champion Wolfsburg, while record eight-time winner Lyon eased past tournament debutant Galatasaray 3-0 and Chelsea held on to beat Real Madrid 3-2 on Tuesday.

The most impressive performance belonged to Roma, considering it finished bottom in last season's group stage.

“It’s a huge victory, a result that we wanted at all costs,” Roma coach Alessandro Spugna said. “I think it is our best (result) in Europe. We delivered an intelligent performance, understanding the game and managing the difficult moments well."

All of Lyon's goals were headers, with France striker Kadidiatou Diani getting two of them in the other Group A match.

After Lyon lost the final to Barcelona last season, Lyon's coach Sonia Bompastor left to replace Emma Hayes at Chelsea.

Bompastor's new side was in charge for long spells at Stamford Bridge, before sloppy defending gave Madrid a late lifeline.

Roma took the lead early on at Tre Fontane stadium through captain Manuela Giugliano's 14th-minute penalty following a foul by right back Lynn Wilms.

Wolfsburg striker Alexandra Popp made her 99th competition appearance and is one away from becoming only the second player to reach 100, after Lyon’s Wendie Renard.

But it was defender Marina Hegering who was Wolfsburg’s most dangerous threat, and she twice went close with headers as the 2023 runner-up chased an equalizer.

Goalkeeper Camelia Ceasar made several saves to keep out the German side.

“We knew we were facing a top team, but we prepared well," Roma midfielder Giada Greggi said. "These games make you grow in every aspect: mental, technical, tactical.”

Lyon won the trophy five consecutive times during its heyday and was runner-up last season to Barcelona.

Diani headed in a 34th-minute cross from Mali winger Tabitha Chawinga, who assisted again moments before the break with a looping left-wing cross to give Canada's Vanessa Gilles an easy header from near the goal line.

Galatasaray goalkeeper Gamze Yaman denied Lyon before Diani nodded in Amel Majri's left-wing cross in the 77th.

Ada Hegerberg, who won the first women’s Ballon d’Or, went close to adding to her record 64 competition goals when she glanced a header wide in stoppage time.

Bompastor was replaced at Lyon by Joe Montemurro.

French hopes firmly rest with his side after Paris Saint-Germain — a semifinalist last season — was eliminated by Juventus in qualifying.

Hayes left Chelsea to lead the United States women and immediately made her mark with gold at the Paris Olympics.

Not seeing her patrolling the touchline must have felt unfamiliar for home fans after her 12 years in charge, which included a semfinal loss to Barcelona last season.

But they were cheering in the second minute when Sjoeke Nüsken forced the ball in after challenging for Johanna Rytting Kaneryd’s cross with Madrid defender Sheila Garcia.

Midfielder Guro Reiten's crisp penalty made it 2-0, but Madrid pulled one back shortly before the break when forward Alba Redondo's low shot went through the legs of goalkeeper Zecira Musovic.

A looping header from Colombia striker Mayra Ramírez made it 3-1 early into the second half.

Chelsea looked in control but some muddled defending led to a scramble and Colombian Linda Caicedo pounced for the Spanish side in the 84th.

In Group B’s other game, midfielder Kayleigh van Dooren struck in each half as Dutch side Twente won 2-0 at Celtic.

Barca’s quest for a third straight title begins on Wednesday with a trip to Manchester City, while Swedish club Hammarby faces St. Pölten of Austria in the other Group D game.

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Chelsea's Guro Reiten celebrates after scoring her side's second goal during the women's Champions League group B soccer match between FC Chelsea and Real Madrid in London, England, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (Zac Goodwin/PA via AP)

FC Twente's Kayleigh van Dooren, right, celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game during the UEFA Women's Champions League group stage match between Celtic and Twente at New Douglas Park, Hamilton, Britain, Tuesday Oct. 8, 2024. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)

Chelsea's Lucy Bronze, left, and Real Madrid's Alba Redondo, right, challenge for the ball during the women's Champions League group B soccer match between FC Chelsea and Real Madrid in London, England, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (Zac Goodwin/PA via AP)

Chelsea's scorer Mayra Ramirez and her teammate Guro Reiten, right, celebrate their side's thirrd goal during the women's Champions League group B soccer match between FC Chelsea and Real Madrid in London, England, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (Zac Goodwin/PA via AP)

Chelsea's players huddle up before the women's Champions League group B soccer match between FC Chelsea and Real Madrid in London, England, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (Zac Goodwin/PA via AP)

Chelsea's Guro Reiten scores her side's second goal during the women's Champions League group B soccer match between FC Chelsea and Real Madrid in London, England, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (Zac Goodwin/PA via AP)

AS Roma's Elena Linari during a women's Champions League Group A soccer match between AS Roma and Wolfsburg at the Tre Fontane stadium in Rome, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (Fabrizio Corradetti/LaPresse via AP)

Wolfsburg's head coach Tommy Stroot during the women's Champions League Group A soccer match between Roma and Wolfsburg at the Tre Fontane stadium in Rome, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (Fabrizio Corradetti/LaPresse via AP)

Wolfsburg's Svenja Huth , left, kicks the ball past Roma's Giada Greggi during the women's Champions League Group A soccer match between Roma and Wolfsburg at the Tre Fontane stadium in Rome, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (Fabrizio Corradetti/LaPresse via AP)

AS Roma's Manuela Giugliano kicks the 1-0 goal against Wolfsburg during a women's Champions League Group A game between AS Roma and Wolfsburg at the Tre Fontane stadium in Rome, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (Fabrizio Corradetti/LaPresse via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A decade after the Flint, Michigan, water crisis raised alarms about the continuing dangers of lead in tap water, President Joe Biden on Tuesday set a 10-year deadline for cities across the nation to replace their lead pipes, finalizing an aggressive approach aimed at ensuring that drinking water is safe for all Americans.

Biden announced the final Environmental Protection Agency rule during a visit to the swing state of Wisconsin in the final month of a tight presidential campaign. The announcement highlights an issue — safe drinking water — that Kamala Harris has prioritized as vice president and during her presidential campaign. The new rule supplants a looser standard set by former President Donald Trump's administration that did not include a universal requirement to replace lead pipes.

"Folks, what is a government for if it cannot protect the public health?” Biden asked a crowd of union members at a cavernous Department of Public Works warehouse in Milwaukee. The city has the fifth-highest number of lead pipes in the nation, according to the EPA.

Decades after the dangers of lead pipes were clear, more than 9 million lead pipes remain in use, a fact Biden called shameful.

“We’re finally addressing an issue that should’ve been addressed a long time ago in this country,'' he said. “We are showing up as a partner to get it done.”

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said Milwaukee is one of many cities across the country taking steps to remove lead pipes from their drinking water. Officials are using money from the federal infrastructure law to accelerate lead-pipe replacement work and meet a goal to remove all lead pipes within 10 years, down from an initial 60-year timeframe.

“Everyone wants this lead out,” Regan told reporters. “The science has been clear for decades — there is no safe level of lead in our drinking water.”

The new EPA rule is the strongest overhaul of lead-in-water standards in roughly three decades. Lead, a heavy metal used in pipes, paints, ammunition and many other products, is a neurotoxin that can cause a range of disorders from behavioral problems to brain damage. Lead lowers IQ scores in children, stunts their development and increases blood pressure in adults.

The EPA estimates the stricter standard will prevent up to 900,000 infants from having low birth weight and avoid up to 1,500 premature deaths a year from heart disease.

The new regulation is stricter than one proposed last fall and requires water systems to ensure that lead concentrations do not exceed an “action level” of 10 parts per billion, down from 15 parts per billion under the current standard. If high lead levels are found, water systems must inform the public about ways to protect their health, including the use of water filters, and take action to reduce lead exposure while concurrently working to replace all lead pipes.

Lead pipes often impact low-income urban areas the most. They are most commonly found in older, industrial parts of the country, including major cities such as Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Detroit and Milwaukee. The rule also revises the way lead amounts are measured, which could significantly expand the number of cities and water systems that are found to have excessive levels of lead, the EPA said.

To help communities comply, the agency is making available an additional $2.6 billion for drinking water infrastructure through the bipartisan infrastructure law. The agency also is awarding $35 million in competitive grants for programs to reduce lead in drinking water.

The 10-year timeframe won't start for three years, giving water utilities time to prepare. A limited number of cities with large volumes of lead pipes may be given a longer timeframe to meet the new standard.

Lead pipes can corrode and contaminate drinking water; removing them sharply reduces the chance of a crisis. In Flint, a change in the source of the city's drinking water source more than a decade ago made it more corrosive, spiking lead levels in tap water. Flint was the highest-profile example among numerous cities that have struggled with stubbornly high levels of lead, including Newark, New Jersey, Benton Harbor, Michigan, and Washington, D.C.

The original lead and copper rule for drinking water was enacted by the EPA more than 30 years ago. The rules have significantly reduced lead in tap water but have included loopholes that allowed cities to take little action when lead levels rose too high.

“EPA’s action today is a leap forward in protecting the health of tens of millions of Americans from this scourge," said Erik Olson, a health and food expert at the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council.

Actually getting the lead pipes out of the ground will be an enormous challenge, however. The infrastructure law approved in 2021 provided $15 billion to help cities replace their lead pipes, but the total cost will be several times higher. The requirement also comes as the Biden administration proposes strict new drinking water standards for harmful “forever chemicals” called PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. These standards will cost billions of dollars.

The American Water Works Association, which represents water utilities, said it supports EPA’s goals but warned that removal of lead pipes "poses cost challenges.'' Ultimately, most of the costs will fall to consumers through higher water bills, said AWWA CEO David LaFrance.

Fifteen Republican attorneys general, led by Kris Kobach of Kansas, have criticized the EPA rule as “unworkable, underfunded and unnecessary.” The GOP officials said they are concerned that homeowners in some places might have to pay to replace pipe sections under their property – a requirement Kobach said Congress did not authorize. Federal grants worth billions of dollars will help communities replace their pipes, the EPA said, but cost decisions ultimately are up to local utilities.

Regan said the benefits of the rule far outweigh the costs. “We believe we’ve done it in a very strategic way — a legally sound way — supported by the science,'' he said.

Another hurdle is finding the lead pipes. Initial pipe inventories are due this month, and many cities have said they don't know what substances their pipes are made of. Without knowing their location, it is hard to efficiently replace them, according to Eric Schwartz, co-founder of BlueConduit, a company formed in response to the Flint crisis that helps cities find their lead pipes.

Dr. Avenel Joseph, interim executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, called access to safe, affordable water a basic human right.

“For generations, lead exposure has silently robbed millions of children — especially those living in communities of color — of this right,'' she said. "With this regulation in place, our country finally says: no more.''

Phillis reported from St. Louis. Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in Milwaukee contributed to this story.

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/environment

President Joe Biden, standing with Alonso Romo, LiUNA Local 113 & introducer, left, and Shy McElroy, advocate & introducer, right, waves to the audience after speaking at an event at the Milwaukee Department of Public Works in Milwaukee, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, to discuss his administration's progress in replacing lead pipes in Wisconsin and across the country. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden speaks at an event at the Milwaukee Department of Public Works in Milwaukee, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, to discuss his administration's progress in replacing lead pipes in Wisconsin and across the country. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden speaks at an event at the Milwaukee Department of Public Works in Milwaukee, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, to discuss his administration's progress in replacing lead pipes in Wisconsin and across the country. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden speaks at an event at the Milwaukee Department of Public Works in Milwaukee, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, to discuss his administration's progress in replacing lead pipes in Wisconsin and across the country. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

FILE - A sample of lead pipe from Flint, Mich., sits on display during a tour of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Center For Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response, Feb. 14, 2023, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

FILE - Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards shows the difference in water quality between Detroit and Flint after testing, giving evidence after more than 270 samples were sent in from Flint that show high levels of lead during a news conference on Sept. 15, 2015, in downtown Flint, Mich. (Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP, File)

FILE - Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan speaks to employees in Washington, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

FILE - A copper water supply line, left, is shown connected to a water main after being installed for lead pipe, right, July 20, 2018, in Flint, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)