Obviously, EPA chief Lisa Jackson has been reading the Risk Management Monitor.
Because yesterday, just on the heels of some extensive coverage by us on water quality concerns (this one last week from Emily and this post yesterday from me), the EPA announced a major shift in how it will regulate the nation’s drinking water, focusing specifically on protecting people from the potentially harmful chemicals that have become increasingly prevalent in recent decades.
EPA’s current approach to protecting drinking water involves assessing each individual contaminant, which can take many years, according to the agency. The new strategy seeks to achieve protections more quickly and cost-effectively with strategies like advanced treatment technologies that address several pollutants at once.
Additionally, Jackson said, the agency plans to use programs in tandem to address water pollution, rather than view them in so-called silos. Jackson said EPA can use the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, which regulates pesticides, as well as the Toxic Substances Control Act to assess the risk of chemicals and stop contaminants before they get into drinking water.
Jackson broke down the new strategy at the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies’ annual conference.
The strategy, Jackson said, contains four key components: addressing contaminants in groups rather than individually, fostering the development of new treatment technologies, using multiple statutes to safeguard water supplies, and enhancing state and local partnerships.
In its official release, the EPA went into even more depth, identifying several substances that would now be put under more scrutiny through regulations.
In the newly finalized review of existing drinking water standards, EPA determined that scientific advances allow for stricter regulations for the carcinogenic compounds tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, acrylamide and epichlorohydrin. Tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene are used in industrial and/or textile processing and can be introduced into drinking water from contaminated ground or surface water sources. Acrylamide and epichlorohydrin are impurities that can be introduced into drinking water during the water treatment process. Within the next year, EPA will initiate rulemaking efforts to revise the tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene standards using the strategy’s framework.
Of course, nothing has changed yet legally and until the environmental watchdog actually does “initiate rulemaking efforts,” the status quo will remain the status quo.
Until new policies and rules are unveiled, it is difficult to say precisely how these shifts will affect Americans. Some within the E.P.A. and Congress remain skeptical.
“There is a history of this agency making big announcements, and then changing very little,” said an agency regulator who was not authorized to speak to the media. “The real test will be to see how many new chemicals have been regulated six months from now.”
Currently, only 91 contaminants are regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act, though more than 60,000 chemicals are used within the United States. No chemicals have been added to that list since 2000.
Rhetorically, it’s a good start. We will see how long it takes to actually make any difference.
And, as evidenced by the graphic below (found at I Love Charts), there isn’t a lot of time — or water — left to waste.
