Proposed Arsenic in Drinking Water Rule Regulatory Impact Analysis

摘要

An enforceable standard of 50 micrograms L currently exists for arsenic incommunity water systems under the National Interim Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWR) (40 CRF 59566). In 1412 (b) (12) (A) of the SDWA, as amended in 1996, Congress specifically directed EPA to issue a final regulation by January 1, 2001. At the same time, Congress directed EPA to develop a research plan to reduce the uncertainty in assessing health risks from low levels of arsenic by February 2, 1997, and conduct the research in consultation with the National Academy of Sciences, other Federal agencies, and interested public and private entities. This document analyzes the impacts of the proposed rule which revises the current standard as follows: (1) reduces the current MCL for arsenic in community water systems from 50 ug/L to 5 ug/L; (2) requires nontransient non-community water systems (NTNC) to perform compliance monitoring and (3) revises the current monitoring requirements to make them consistent with the Standard Monitoring Framework (40 CFR 141.23 (c)).