PMI POSITION STATEMENT
ON ARSENIC IN DRINKING WATER
Issue:
The Safe Drinking Water Act requires EPA to revise the existing 50 parts per billion (ppb) standard for arsenic in drinking water. In January 2001, EPA published a new standard for arsenic in drinking water that would require public water supplies to reduce arsenic to 10 ppb by 2006. In March, the Bush administration set aside this standard in order to conduct further scientific study and consideration of potential costs to small communities that would have to change their filtration systems.
The House voted in late July to require the Bush administration to keep in place restrictions at least as stringent as those set in January by the Clinton administration. This measure still requires Senate approval.
In August, the National Drinking Water Advisory Council concluded that the calculated evaluation of costs to water systems of reducing arsenic to 10 ppb were credible. The National Academy of Sciences reported to EPA in September 2001, that the health risks posed by arsenic are much greater than previously assumed by EPA. Because of these findings, EPA will not propose a standard any higher than 10 ppb, and may propose an even more stringent standard. EPA must receive approval from the White House before issuing a new standard. Administrator Whitman has promised a final decision by February 2002.
Position:
The Plumbing Manufacturers Institute (PMI) is concerned about the cost of regulations to remove arsenic, which is a naturally occurring substance. Drinking water standards must ensure the safety of Americans in a cost-effective manner based on sound science.