Fact or Fiction: Regulation of Emerging Contaminants in Water and Wastewater
Authors:
- Mary E. Sadler, PE - Hazen and Sawyer
Emerging contaminants include a wide variety of chemicals that have until recently been largely outside the scope of environmental regulation. There are numerous ongoing studies to determine the public health and environmental impacts of emerging contaminants. The discovery of previously undetected contaminants prompts questions about what the data really means and what should be done about the perceived problems. Thus, it is necessary for water and wastewater providers to be armed with an understanding of current regulation and policy as well as the potential for future regulation among all of the applicable regulatory programs.
Currently, no single regulatory program in the U.S. considers the totality of the potential risks of endocrine disruptors and other emerging contaminants. Are there risks to human health and aquatic life that should be addressed through the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act? Should indicator compounds be used to address future compliance issues for various groups of compounds? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working methodically towards gathering information and data in order to make decisions on future regulatory action, which include validated analytical methods, sensitive ecological effects test methods, occurrence data, treatment data, and environmental fate data. Additionally, the growing public awareness of the emerging contaminants issue and the burgeoning research may increase the pressure for regulation.
This paper will focus on the regulatory mechanisms for drinking water regulation, water quality standards and permit limits development, and commercial regulation (e.g., Food Quality Protection Act, Federal Food Drug and Cosmetics Act, etc.). The paper will also focus on the impact that potential regulation may have on municipal water and wastewater providers. Future regulation of emerging contaminants will be driven partly by policy choices made today, so it is critically important that municipal utilities understand the regulatory process for these policy decisions.
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