Six Year Review of Drinking Water Standards

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requires EPA to review each National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) at least once every six years and revise them, if appropriate. SDWA specifies that any revision must maintain or increase public health protection. EPA published its review protocol and its preliminary revise/not revise decisions for 69 NPDWRs in the April 17, 2002 edition of the Federal Register to request public comment. The Agency received and reviewed comments from 44 commenters. Today the Agency is announcing the completion of its review of these 69 NPDWRs that were established prior to the 1997. These 69 NPDWRs include 68 chemical NPDWRs and the Total Coliform Rule (TCR). Based on the Agency's preliminary review, as well as the public comments received and other new information, EPA believes that it is appropriate to revise the Total Coliform Rule (TCR). The Agency also believes that it is not appropriate to revise the 68 chemical NPDWRs at this time.

Schedule

Statutory Requirements

Section 1412(b)(9) of the Safe Drinking Water Act states,

"The Administrator shall, not less often than every 6 years, review and revise, as appropriate, each national primary drinking water regulation promulgated under this title. Any revision of a national primary drinking water regulation shall be promulgated in accordance with this section, except that each revision shall maintain, or provide for greater, protection of the health of persons."

Links

• Announcement of Completion of EPA's Review of Existing Drinking Water Standards
  • Federal Register Notice
  • Fact Sheet (185 KB PDF) (June 2003 EPA 815-F-03-001)

• Support Documents EPA's Review of Exisiting Drinking Water Standards
  • EPA's Protocol for the Review of Existing National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (EPA 815-R-03-002) (435 KB PDF)
  • Six-Year Review - Chemical Contaminants: Health Effects (EPA 822-R-03-008) (331 KB PDF)
  • Analytical Feasibility Support Document for the Six-Year Review of Existing National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (EPA 815-R-03-003) (5.23MB PDF)
  • Water Treatment Technology Feasibility Support Document (EPA 815-R-03-004) (371 KB PDF)
  • Consideration of Other Regulatory Revisions for Chemical Contaminants in Support of the Six-Year Review of National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (EPA 815-R-03-005) (283 KB PDF)
  • Occurrence Estimation Methodology and Occurrence Findings Report for the Six-Year Review (EPA 815-R-03-006) (10 MB PDF)
  • Occurrence Summary and Use Support Document for the Six-Year Regulatory Review (EPA 815-D-02-006) (5.89 MB PDF)

• April 2002 Preliminary Results and Request for Public Comment
  • Federal Register Publication Version
    • HTML Version
    • PDF Version (2,319 KB)
  • Fact Sheet (April 2002 151 KB PDF)
  • Summaries of related meetings

• Issue papers for the November 17, 1999 stakeholder meeting:
  • Overall Development Process
  • Health-Based Selection Criteria for Chemical Contaminants
  • Occurrence of Regulated Contaminants
  • Analytical Methods - Reassessment of Practical Quantitation Limits
  • Stakeholder Strategy
  • National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (List of Contaminants Regulated by 1996 Under SDWA)
  • EPA Staff Presenters Contact Information for CCL and Six Year Review of Standards

  In a related effort, EPA must periodically consider the need for new drinking water standards and include greater public participation in its decisions. The Contaminant Candidate List was developed to help EPA determine priorities for additional research, occurrence monitoring, possible rulemaking.

  • Contaminant Candidate List

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