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Summary:
In 1996, Congress directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue a new standard for arsenic in drinking water by January 2001. Congress also directed EPA, with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), to study arsenic's health effects to reduce the uncertainty in assessing health risks associated with exposure to low levels of arsenic. EPA had adopted an interim standard of 50 parts per billion (ppb) in 1975. In 1999, the NAS concluded that the standard did not achieve EPA's goals for public health protection and recommended that it be tightened as soon as possible. On January 22, 2001, EPA issued a final rule and set the standard at 10 ppb, with an effective date of March 23, 2001; water systems were given until January 23, 2006 to meet the standard. EPA projected that compliance could be costly for some small systems, but water utilities and communities expressed concern that EPA had understated the rule's costs. Subsequently, EPA postponed the rule's effective date to February 22, 2002, in order to review the science, costs, and benefits analyses that supported the rule. In October 2001, EPA announced that the standard will be 10 ppb. The rule became effective on February 22, 2002, and the compliance date for water systems remained unchanged. EPA and Congress are now focusing on how to help communities comply with the new rule by January 23, 2006. This report reviews the arsenic rule and subsequent EPA and congressional actions. It will be updated.
