View Rule

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make regulatory determinations on at least five contaminants on the Contaminant Candidate List (CCL). The CCL is a list of contaminants that are currently not subject to any proposed or promulgated national primary drinking water regulations, but are known or anticipated to occur in public water systems. The fourth CCL (CCL 4) includes 97 chemicals and 12 microbial contaminants. It includes, among others, chemicals used in commerce, pesticides, biological toxins, disinfection byproducts, pharmaceuticals and waterborne pathogens. Two contaminants included on CCL 4 are perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). The EPA intends to make preliminary regulatory determinations for PFOA and PFOS and other CCL4 contaminants by the end of 2019. Making a preliminary regulatory determination is the next regulatory step in the SDWA, which could result in the Agency establishing a maximum contaminant level for PFOA and PFOS.