The Nickel Report

Care about Drinking Water Regulations?

7.22.2021 Request for Comment and Public Workshop for California Drinking Water Public Health Goals for PFOA and PFOS: The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) released a draft document for public review describing proposed Public Health Goals (PHGs) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in drinking water. A PHG is the level of a drinking water contaminant at which adverse health effects are not expected to occur from a lifetime of exposure.  PHGs published by OEHHA are considered by the State Water Resources Control Board in setting drinking water regulatory standards (Maximum Contaminant Levels, or MCLs) for California. The proposed PHG of 0.007 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFOA is based on kidney cancer in humans and the proposed PHG of 1 ppt for PFOS is based on liver and pancreatic tumors in laboratory animals. The draft technical support document can be found here. Public comments are due September 28, 2021. Details about how to send comments and a public workshop that will be held on September 28, 2021 can be found here.

7.19.2021: Request for Comment, Draft Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List 5:  EPA has proposed a list of contaminants that are known or anticipated to occur in public water systems, and which may require future regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).

The Draft Contaminant Candidate List 5 (CCL5) includes 66 chemicals (including some pesticides), 3 chemical groups (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), cyanotoxins, and disinfection byproducts) and 12 microbial contaminants. When final, the CCL5 will not impose any requirements but the CCL5 list will be used by EPA to make regulatory determinations on whether to regulate at least 5 contaminants from the CCL5 under the SDWA. Thus this is the initial screening of potential contaminants EPA may further regulate. The proposed rule can be found here. Public comments are due September 17, 2021.

7.15.2021: Request for Nominations for the Science Advisory Board; Contaminant Candidate List 5 Panel: The draft CCL5 list (referred to above) will be reviewed by EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB). EPA is seeking nominations of experts to serve on the review panel. The request can be found here. Nominations are due August 5, 2021.

Got PFAS?

7.14.2021: EPA Launches Stewardship Program to Reduce PFAS in the Marketplace

Over 600 PFAS chemicals have entered the market through a new chemicals program that granted low volume exemptions (LVEs). Because these chemistries did not go through a full pre-manufacture review process under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), EPA is seeking to stop their use by asking companies to voluntarily withdraw their LVEs and certify that they will no longer manufacture or import PFAS. Details on the stewardship program can be found here. EPA will be holding a webinar on this stewardship program on July 29, 2021.

Manufacture, Distribute, Process or Import Chemicals?

7.14.21: Development of Tiered Data Reporting To Inform TSCA Prioritization, Risk Evaluation, and Risk Management; Notice of Public Meeting and Opportunity to Comment

EPA will hold a public meeting to engage stakeholders on the development of a proposed rule for implementing a tiered data collection strategy to help inform the Agency’s prioritization, risk evaluation, and risk management activities for chemical substances or mixtures under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Currently, EPA primarily collects exposure-related data through the TSCA Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) process. EPA is interested in ensuring that data collection strategies provide information to better meet the Agency’s basic chemical data needs, such as information related to exposure, health, and eco-toxicity. You may be potentially affected by this action if you manufacture (including import), process, or distribute or propose to manufacture (including import), process, or distribute chemical substances or mixtures that can be regulated under TSCA. Details on the request for comment can be found here. The public meeting is July 27. 2021 and you can register here. Written comments are due to EPA by August 15, 2021.