National Primary Drinking Water Regulations: Minor Revisions to Public Notification Rule, Consumer Confidence Report Rule and Primacy Rule

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing changes to the health effects language for di(2-ethylhexyl) adipate (DEHA) and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in the Public Notification (PN) Rule and the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) Rule under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Today's rule also makes minor corrections to Appendix A of the CCR Rule. These changes include: correcting drinking water source information listed for copper, changing the placement of regulatory and health effects information for disinfection by-products (i.e., bromate, chloramines, chlorite, chlorine, and chlorine dioxide), and correcting the reference "chloride dioxide" to "chlorine dioxide." The Agency is also amending the listing for three contaminants (i.e., bromate, chlorite, and total trihalomethanes) to correct source information given in Appendix A. The appendix listed "by-product of chlorination," a specific method of disinfection, as the major source for these contaminants in drinking water. The source information in Appendix A is being amended to include the more general term "by-product of drinking water disinfection" for these contaminants. In addition, the Agency is revising the Primacy Rule to remove regulations pertaining to the Administrator's authority to waive national primary drinking water regulations (NPDWRs) for Federally owned or operated public water systems. This authority was removed by Congress in the 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act.