Tina Arnold

April 6, 2007

Late last week members of the House introduced House Resolution 1747, titled the "Safe Drinking Water for Healthy Communities Act of 2007." The Act would add perchlorate to the list of regulated contaminants under the Safe Drinking Water Act by requiring the EPA to set a national primary drinking water regulation. This proposed act follows two related bills introduced into the Senate in January. Those bills would require the EPA to issue a perchlorate health advisory and require certain public water systems to monitor for perchlorate, in addition to setting a national primary drinking water standard.

Perchlorate came to the U.S. in the 1940s as an ingredient of chemicals used in the manufacture of blasting agents and military munitions. It is highly soluble and very mobile in water. According to a 2005 survey conducted by the 2005 Government Accountability Office, perchlorate was detected in water and soil at almost 400 sites around the county and in 153 public water systems in 26 states. Because there is no standardized, national approach for monitoring or reporting perchlorate levels, these numbers could be much higher. California reports contamination in 276 drinking water sources alone.

The proposed legislation would require the EPA to set a final national primary drinking water regulation for perchlorate within eighteen months of enactment. While the legislation does not call for a specific maximum contaminate level, any level set would force cleanup at sites that have not addressed perchlorate, such as those owned by the Department of Defense. The Environmental Working Group has asked the EPA to set the level at 1 part per billion (ppb). However, EPA has set a drinking water equivalent level (DWEL) at 24.5 ppb.

H.R. 1747, introduced on March 28, 2007, awaits further action from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Sources:

At the time of publication, the bills were not yet submitted to the Government Printing Office or posted to http://thomas.loc.gov/.

Safe Drinking Water for Healthy Communities Act of 2007, H.R. 1747, 110th Cong. (2007).

Protecting Pregnant Women and Children from Perchlorate Act of 2007, S. 150, 110th Cong. (2007).

Perchlorate Monitoring and Right-to-Know Act of 2007, S. 24, 110th Cong. (2007).

EPA Faces Increases Pressure to Set Strict Perchlorate Cleanup Limits, Inside EPA, Apr. 6, 2007, http://environmentalnewsstand.com/showdoc.asp?docnum=INSIDEEPA-28-14-11 (subscription required).