Groups | Search | Server Info | Login | Register

Groups > sci.space.policy > #69072

EPA says it will propose drinking water limit for perchlorate, but only because court ordered it

Cross-posted to 6 groups.

Show all headers | View raw

https://www.ocregister.com/2026/01/05/epa-drinking-water-rule/

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday said it
would propose a drinking water limit for perchlorate, a harmful chemical
in rockets and other explosives, but also said doing so wouldn’t
significantly benefit public health and that it was acting only because
a court ordered it. 

The agency said it will seek input on how strict the limit should be for
perchlorate, which is particularly dangerous for infants, and require
utilities to test. The agency’s move is the latest in a more than
decade-long battle over whether to regulate perchlorate. The EPA said
that the public benefit of the regulation did not justify its expected
cost. 

“Due to infrequent perchlorate levels of health concern, the vast
majority of the approximately 66,000 water systems that would be subject
to the rule will incur substantial administrative and monitoring costs
with limited or no corresponding public health benefits as a whole,” the
agency wrote in its proposal. 

Perchlorate is used to make rockets, fireworks and other explosives,
although it can also occur naturally. At some defense, aerospace and
manufacturing sites, it seeped into nearby groundwater where it could
spread, a problem that has been concentrated in the Southwest and along
sections of the East Coast. 

Perchlorate is a concern because it affects the function of the thyroid,
which can be particularly detrimental for the development of young
children, lowering IQ scores and increasing rates of behavioral
problems. 

Based on estimates that perchlorate could be in the drinking water of
roughly 16 million people, the EPA determined in 2011 that it was a
sufficient threat to public health that it needed to be regulated. Under
the Safe Drinking Water Act, this determination required the EPA to
propose and then finalize regulations by strict deadlines, with a
proposal due in two years. 

It didn’t happen. First, the agency updated the science to better
estimate perchlorate’s risks, but that took time. By 2016, the nonprofit
Natural Resources Defense Council sued to force action. 

During the first Trump administration, the EPA proposed a
never-implemented standard that the NRDC said was less restrictive than
any state limit and would lead to IQ point loss in children. It reversed
itself in 2020, saying no standard was necessary because a new analysis
had found the chemical was less dangerous and its appearance in drinking
water less common than previously thought. 

That’s still the agency’s position. It said Monday that its data shows
perchlorate is not widespread in drinking water. 

“We anticipate that fewer than one-tenth of 1% of regulated water
systems are likely to find perchlorate above the proposed limits,” the
agency said. A limit will help the small number of places with a
problem, but burden the vast majority with costs they don’t need,
officials said. 

The EPA said sampling could be done less frequently if a utility’s
initial testing didn’t raise concern. They also said the agency had
committed to working with states and communities to reduce
contamination. 

Nevada, for one, had said in 2020 that it wouldn’t be affected by the
reversal, after 20 years of cleanup efforts that dramatically reduced
the concentration of perchlorates in Lake Mead. That effort was prompted
by decades of accumulation in the Las Vegas Valley, where perchlorates
had been produced since the 1950s. 

A federal appeals court, however, said the EPA must propose a regulation
for perchlorate, arguing that it still is a significant and widespread
public health threat. The agency will solicit public comment on limits
of 20, 40 and 80 parts per billion, as well as other elements of the
proposal. 

“Members of the public deserve to know whether there’s rocket fuel in
their tap water. We’re pleased to see that, however reluctantly, EPA is
moving one step closer to providing the public with that information,”
said Sarah Fort, a senior attorney with NRDC. 

The nonprofit added that even a 20 parts per billion standard would be
weak and put at risk the health of “millions of people across the
country, especially fetuses and young infants who are particularly
vulnerable to this toxic chemical.” 

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has sought massive rollbacks of
environmental rules and promoted oil and gas development. But on
drinking water, the agency’s actions have been more moderate. The agency
said it would keep the Biden administration’s strict limits on two of
the most common types of harmful “forever chemicals” in drinking water,
while giving utilities more time to comply, and would scrap limits on
other types of PFAS. 

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation
for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely
responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage,
visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment 


-- 
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump.  We look 
forward to America being great again.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that 
stupid people won't be offended.

Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.

Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama 
/ Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the 
The World According To Garp.  Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood 
queer liberal democrat donors.

Back to sci.space.policy | Previous | Next | Find similar

Thread

EPA says it will propose drinking water limit for perchlorate, but only because court ordered it "Leroy N. Soetoro" <leroysoetoro@americans-first.com> - 2026-01-15 20:44 +0000

csiph-web