During the final days of the Clinton Administration in January, 2001, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Carol Browner,
amended the Arsenic standard in drinking water form a previous MCL of 50 ug/l down to 10 ug/l. The
incoming Bush Administration challenged that decision and on March 20, 2001 the new EPA
Administrator Governor Christie Todd Whitman announced that her agency would begin a new rule-
making procedure to re-evaluate the arsenic standard. Whitman asked three expert panels to review all
new and existing materials. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) would review the health risks; the
Science Advisory Board (SAB) would review the benefits; and the National Drinking Water Advisory
Council (NDWAC) would review the national cost of implementation. At the May, 2001 meeting of the
NDWAC, a Working Group consisting of 17 experts from around the country was established that would
evaluate the costs of implementing the arsenic standard. This Working Group met five times between
May 29 and August 3, 2001, plus numerous interim conference calls, e-mails, and subgroup meetings. The
Workgroup completed its report and recommendations by mid-August. On August 22, 2001, the National
Drinking Water Advisory Council voted unanimously to accept the report and forward its
recommendations to EPA Administrator Christie Whitman. On October 4, 2002 the final report was
submitted to the House Science Committee of the United States House of Representatives.
This paper discusses the report's three major areas of recommendations:
how to improve the current national cost estimate;
how should future cost estimates be done by EPA; and,
how affordability should apply to rule implementation.
The EPA Administrator announced that as of October 31st, 2002, the final arsenic standard will be 10 ug/l and
water systems would be required to meet the new standard by January, 2006. 97% of the systems affected
by the ruling are small systems. The cost of implementation to many of these will be very substantial.
Current estimates range from $20 - $580 per month per household over and above current water rates. A
number of bills have been introduced in Congress to attempt to mitigate this huge cost, however as of April
1, 2002 none have been passed. Includes 3 references, tables.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
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| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 9 |
