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Public Comment Period for 19 Draft Technical Support Documents for Proposed Public Health Goals for 20 Chemicals in Drinking Water (1998)

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) is soliciting public comments on 19 draft technical support documents for Public Health Goals (PHGs) for chemicals in drinking water. Earlier drafts of these documents were made available on September 25, 1998. In addition, a public workshop was held on October 6, 1998 to discuss the scientific basis and recommendations for the proposed PHGs. OEHHA staff have considered the oral and written comments received at the workshop and in response to the first draft of these documents, and have made a number of revisions to the PHG technical support documents. The 19 draft technical support documents are now available for a 30-day comment period that begins November 13, 1998 and will end on December 14, 1998.

PHG documents have been developed for the following chemicals: atrazine; bentazon; cadmium; chromium; 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP); 1,2-dichloroethane; 1,1-dichloroethylene; 1,2-dichloropropane; 1,3-dichloropropene (Telone); endrin; heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide; g -hexachlorocyclohexane (lindane); hexachlorocyclopentadiene; inorganic mercury; methoxychlor; thallium; 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene; trichloroethylene; and toluene.

The PHG technical support documents provide information on the health effects from contaminants in drinking water. PHGs are levels of drinking water contaminants at which adverse health effects are not expected to occur from a lifetime of exposure. The California Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996 (Health and Safety Code Section 116365) requires OEHHA to adopt PHGs based exclusively on public health considerations. PHGs adopted by OEHHA will be considered by the California Department of Health Services in establishing primary drinking water standards (State Maximum Contaminant Levels, or MCLs).

Written comments regarding the document may be submitted to:

Cal/EPA-OEHHA-PETB
Water Toxicology
P.O. Box 4010
Sacramento, CA 95812-4010
(916) 324-7572

In order to be considered for this comment period, comments must be postmarked (if sent by mail) or received at OEHHA (if delivered in person or sent by FAX) by 5:00 p.m. Monday, December 14, 1998.

[Update] Draft PHG Technical Support Documents have been finalized and can be found here.