Legislative and Regulatory Issues

The latest information on legislation and regulatory issues of interest to the drinking water community.

 

Alerts

November 9, 2010

The Environmental Working Group (EWG), an environmental advocacy group, is preparing to announce findings on a recent study of Chromium-VI, or Hexavalent Chromium (Cr-VI).

 

Currently, USEPA has a MCL for total chromium (100 ppb), but does not have a separate MCL for Cr-VI. However, USEPA is in the process of conducting an evaluation of carcinogenicity via oral ingestion for Cri-VI that is currently in external peer review and is scheduled to be completed in late 2011. Additionally, in 2009, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) proposed a Public Health Goal (PHG) of 0.06 ppb, and EWG used that target as a baseline for their study.

 

The EWG study examined tap samples from multiple cities who have previously detected total chromium. Of those examined, Cr-VI was found in a majority of the samples, with many samples above the CA Public Health Goal. EWG also tested for total chromium and calculated the relative percentage of chromium that was measured as Cr-VI. The study found that generally Cr-VI levels were about one half of the detected total chromium value.

 

EWG is supportive of the CA PHG. They are also recommending testing for Cr-VI nationally and encouraging USEPA to set a MCL for Cr-VI. The most recent material on chromium from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is available here. As previously mentioned, USEPA’s National Center for Environmental Assessment is preparing a toxicological review of Cr-VI. The EPA analysis relies on the same critical study as OEHHA’s proposed PHG; EPA’s analysis is now in external peer-review and is available here.

The EWG report is in final stages of production and will likely be released in mid-November.

Questions? Contact AWWA Public Affairs at (303) 347-6140 or dmueller@awwa.org.

 

The Election: What it Means for Water

Republicans won a historic number of seats in the House – at least 60 – more than reversing the 54
seats that Democrats had picked up in the last two election cycles. At the time of this writing, the
winner has not been declared in a number of close races, and we don’t know what the exact margins of
control will be in either the House or the Senate in the 112th Congress.

Both the House and Senate return in the next two weeks for a lame duck session in which much important business awaits:

• Budget and appropriations bills for every federal department for the fiscal year that started on October 1.
• Decisions needed on taxes, treaties

Democrats will look for permanent decisions before they lose power in the next Congress, while Republicans will want temporary decisions until they come to power in January.

 

Water Issues in the New Congress:

• Chemical Security Legislation. The current chemical security program (including the Chemical Facility Anti Terrorism Standards program, or CFATS) is set to expire in 2011. Expiration is unlikely to be an option
• The water community is exempt from the current program. We expect that the terms for including the water sector in the program will continue to be a point of debate.
• Outright ban on chlorine gas less likely than it appeared in the last two years.
• Infrastructure Funding. This issue will also receive a lot of attention, though with the highway bill (and the highway trust fund) up for renewal, the water sector will have to fight harder than ever to bring adequate attention to water infrastructure needs.