February 20, 2023
By:
Walter G. Wright
Category:
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published a notice in the February 17th Federal Register requesting nominations for the Safe Drinking Water Act (“SDWA”) Sixth Contaminant Candidate List . See 88 Fed. Reg. 10316.
The SDWA Contaminant Candidate List are those contaminants:
- Currently not subject to any proposed or promulgated National Primary Drinking Water Regulations
- Known or anticipated to occur in public water systems
EPA views contaminants listed on the Contaminant Candidate List as potentially requiring future regulation under the SDWA. The SDWA requires EPA to publish the Contaminant Candidate List every five years.
The SDWA requires that EPA:
- Consider the health effects and occurrence information for unregulated contaminants
- Place those contaminants on the list that present the greatest public health concern related to exposure from drinking water
As a result, EPA uses the Contaminant Candidate List to identify priority contaminants for regulatory decision making/information collection.
EPA is required to make regulatory determinations for at least five contaminants from the most recent Contaminant Candidate List within five years after the completion of the previous round of regulatory determinations. However, the federal agency is not prohibited from making regulatory determinations for only those contaminants on the Contaminant Candidate List.
The EPA February 17th Federal Register Notice states that interested parties can nominate chemicals, microbes, or other substances for consideration on the Contaminant Candidate List.
A copy of the Federal Register Notice can be downloaded here.
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