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Complexities of the new drinking water regulations—everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask
Author(s) -
Roberson J. Alan
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.2003.tb10313.x
Subject(s) - safe drinking water act , agency (philosophy) , business , environmental planning , water contamination , environmental science , water quality , contamination , ecology , philosophy , epistemology , biology
In the 22 years between the original passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) in 1974 and the most recent SDWA reauthorization in 1996, the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) finalized only nine regulations. Between 1998 and 2004, USEPA is expected to finalize 10 new regulations in just six years, an unprecedented level of regulatory activity. In addition to regulating more contaminants, the new rules are expected to be more complex because of the combination of stipulated treatment techniques and maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) that increase the number of potential violation codes. In addition, future MCL‐based regulations are likely to address difficult‐to‐treat contaminants such as perchlorate, chromium‐ VI, and methyl‐tertiary‐butyl‐ether. An analysis of existing USEPA compliance data indicates that as regulations become more complex the number of violations increases and compliance with the new regulations will challenge all utilities, particularly small systems. The article proposes several strategies for water providers as they attempt to address the complexities of these upcoming regulations.