NewsSWRCB Economic Feasibility Analysis for Hexavalent Chromium MCL Workshops
While the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) currently has three scheduled workshops mid-April to present information and solicit public comment on the SWRCB’s white paper on “Economic Feasibility Analysis in Consideration of a Hexavalent Chromium Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL),” staff indicates that they are re-evaluating the timing of the workshops amid the COVID-19 crisis. In this regard, we are told they are considering moving forward instead with a single webcast workshop on one of the dates previously noted and expect to release a revised notice, likely including a short extension to the written comment deadline, in the next few days.
As you may recall, in 2011, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) established a Public Health Goal (PHG) for hexavalent chromium of 0.02 parts per billion (ppb) that was based on cancer risk based on concerns about Hexavalent chromium being detected in drinking water sources in California. Thereafter in 2014, the California Department of Public Health established an MCL of 10 ppb for Hexavalent Chromium. However, in 2017 the Superior Court of the State of California invalidated that MCL and directed the SWRCB to withdraw the current MCL and establish and new MCL that considered more robustly economic feasibility considerations.
The webcast workshop, once scheduled, will include a staff presentation with background information on statutory requirements for consideration of economic feasibility in the establishment of drinking water standards and an overview of the White Paper.
For more information, please see https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/regulations/docs/notice_hexavalent.pdf.