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1 1 (March 30, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govelcd0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Servic Infrmring the legislitive debate since 1914 0 March 30, 2023 Safe Drinking Water Act: Proposed National Primary Drinking Water Regulation for Specified PFAS Detections of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in public water supplies have heightened public and congressional interest in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) authorities under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to limit PFAS in drinking water. PFAS are fluorinated chemicals that have been used in commercial, industrial, and U.S. military applications since the 1940s. Some of the more common applications include nonstick coatings, food wrappers, waterproof materials, and fire suppressants. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, PFAS may have been released to surface or ground water from manufacturing sites, industrial operations, use and disposal of PFAS- containing consumer products, fire/crash training areas, wastewater treatment facilities, and the spreading of contaminated biosolids, among other activities. Scientific information is available for a select number of PFAS. For those select PFAS, studies suggest that exposure to specific PFAS above certain levels may be linked to adverse health effects, such as developmental effects; changes in liver, immune, and cardiovascular function; and increased risk of some cancers. Two of the historically most studied PFAS are perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). PFAS and Drinking Water For more than a decade, EPA has been evaluating certain PFAS to determine if these substances warrant regulation under SDWA. After finalizing a determination to regulate PFOA and PFOS in March 2021, EPA proposed a drinking water regulation for these substances on March 14, 2023. At the same time, EPA proposed that the regulation include four other PFAS. Under SDWA, EPA has 18 months (i.e., until September 14, 2024) to finalize the proposal. The following sections provide a brief overview of the SDWA regulatory development provisions and key elements of EPA's proposed regulation, and discuss this development in the context of recent legislative activity. SDWA Regulatory Development As amended in 1996, SDWA specifies a multistep process for evaluating contaminants to determine whether a national primary drinking water regulation is warranted (42 U.S.C. §300g-1). The evaluation process includes identifying contaminants of potential concern, assessing health risks, collecting occurrence data (and developing reliable analytical methods necessary to do so), and making determinations as to whether or not regulatory action is needed for a contaminant. For more information, see CRS Report R46652, Regulating Contaminants Under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Every five years, EPA is required to publish a list of contaminants that are known or anticipated to occur in public water systems and may warrant regulation under the act (42 U.S.C. §300g-1(b)). In 2009, EPA placed PFOA and PFOS on the third such contaminant candidate list for evaluation (74 Federal Register (FR) 51850). To generate nationwide occurrence data for unregulated contaminants, SDWA directs EPA to promulgate, every five years, an unregulated contaminant monitoring rule (UCMR) that requires water systems to test for up to 30 contaminants (42 U.S.C. §300j-4). EPA generally requires monitoring by all public water systems that serve more than 10,000 persons, plus a representative sample of smaller systems. In 2012, EPA issued UCMR 3, requiring roughly 5,000 water systems to monitor for 6 PFAS-including PFOA and PFOS-between January 2013 and December 2015. Among the UCMR 3 results, 95 systems had PFOS detections, and 117 systems detected PFOA. In 2020, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2020 (P.L. 116- 92) directed EPA to include on the next UCMR (i.e., UCMR 5) every PFAS for which EPA had identified a validated test method. (EPA has validated test methods for 29 PFAS.) In December 2021, EPA finalized UCMR 5, which requires monitoring for 29 PFAS (including the 6 PFAS identified in UCMR 3) between 2023 and 2025, with data reporting by December 2026 (86 FR 73131). For EPA to make a regulatory determination-a positive RD-that regulation of a contaminant is warranted, SDWA directs EPA to find the following: (1) the contaminant may have an adverse health effect; (2) the contaminant is known to occur or there is a substantial likelihood that it will occur in water systems at a frequency and at levels of public health concern; and (3) in the sole judgment of the EPA Administrator, regulation of the contaminant presents a meaningful opportunity for reducing health risks. EPA finalized positive RDs for PFOA and PFOS in March 2021 (86 FR 12272). Since 1996, EPA has finalized a positive RD for one other contaminant: perchlorate. In 2020, EPA withdrew perchlorate's positive RD (85 FR 43990). Once EPA finalizes a positive RD, SDWA prescribes a schedule for promulgating regulations. EPA is required to propose a rule within 24 months and promulgate a final drinking water regulation within 18 months after the proposal. For each contaminant, EPA is required to establish a maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG) at a level at which no known or anticipated adverse health effects occur and which allows an adequate margin of safety (42 U.S.C. §300g-1(b)(4)(A)). Regulations also include a maximum contaminant level (MCL)-an enforceable limit for a contaminant in public water

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