The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on February 9 it is hosting two identical public meetings to discuss and solicit input on environmental justice considerations related to the development of the proposed per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) national primary drinking water regulation (NPDWR) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
The EPA is holding these meetings to share information and provide an opportunity for communities to offer input on the development of the proposed PFAS NPDWR. Information on how to register and request to speak during one of the meetings is detailed in the “supplementary information” section of the announcement.
Seventy-three percent of community water systems are small groundwater-supplied systems serving 10,000 or fewer people.
Comments must be received on or before April 20, 2022. The two identical public meetings will be held on March 2, 2022 (1-4 p.m. ET) and April 5, 2022 (5-8 p.m. ET). The public meetings will be held in an online-only format.
All submissions received must include the Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0114 for this action. Comments received may be posted without change to Regulations.gov.
Individuals planning to participate in either of the online public meetings must register at https://www.epa.gov/sdwa/and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas no later than March 1, 2022 for the March 2, 2022 meeting and April 4, 2022 for the April 5, 2022 meeting.
Click here to read the announcement.
NGWA has long been an industry leader in providing PFAS research, education, and resources to the public and scientific communities. In 2017, NGWA published Groundwater and PFAS: State of Knowledge and Practice, which was one of the first PFAS guidance documents to be released. It can be found at NGWA.org/PFAS, which is a complete resource center about the groundwater contaminants featuring a FAQs document, a top-10 facts sheet, a homeowner checklist, and more.
NGWA is also once again hosting a conference on this topic, Fate of PFAS: From Groundwater to Tap Water, June 21-22, 2022 in Westerville, Ohio.