EPA To Propose Downgrading Access to Annual Drinking Water Quality Reports?

Is it costing local utilities too much to tell you what contaminants are in the water you drink from your tap? For nearly 15 years, the Safe Drinking Water Act has required utilities once a year to put a statement of any violations or contaminants in the bill they would be mailing you anyway. These are called "consumer confidence reports," whether they make you feel confident or not.

Some utilities want to get rid of the requirement — substituting online notification, even for water customers who lack internet connections. A legislative effort to ease the notification requirement failed in the Senate in summer 2012.

Now EPA is starting procedures which might lead to doing the same thing by rulemaking. It held a public meeting on the subject October 1, 2012, in Arlington, Virginia. Deadline for comments is October 11, 2012.

• "Announcement of Public Meeting on the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) Rule Retrospective Review and Request for Public Comment on Potential Approaches to Electronic Delivery of the CCR," Federal Register, September 11, 2012.
• "EPA Proposal Missing Improvements to Water Quality Reports," The Watcher, OMB Watch, September 25, 2012.
• Previous Story: "Senate Balks at Limiting Drinking Water Reports," WatchDog of August 8, 2012.