Initiation of Risk Assessments for Chemicals in Drinking Water (2001)
The Calderon-Sher California Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996 (the Act, as amended in 1999 by Senate Bill 635) requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to post notices on its Web site of water contaminants for which it is initiating a risk assessment in connection with the development of a Public Health Goal (PHG) for the chemical in drinking
water. The law also describes the purpose and general context of the PHGs. PHGs are
concentrations of chemicals in drinking water that are not anticipated to produce adverse health
effects following long-term exposures. These goals are non-regulatory in nature but are to be
used as the health basis to update the state primary drinking water standards (maximum contaminant levels, or MCLs) established by the California Department of Health Services
(DHS) for chemicals in drinking water subject to regulation.
[Update] Document updated in May 2002 and again on July 2004.