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Public Workshop and Discussion of the Draft Public Health Goals for Chemicals in Drinking Water

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) announces a public workshop to discuss the scientific basis and recommendations in its draft technical support documents for Public Health Goals (PHGs) for chemicals in drinking water. This one-day workshop will be held on October 6, 1998, at the Elihu Harris Building, 1515 Clay Street, Oakland, California. The workshop will begin at 9:00 a.m. and will last until all business for the day is concluded, estimated to be at 4:30 p.m.

PHGs proposed for the following chemicals will be discussed at the workshop: atrazine; bentazon; cadmium; chromium; 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP); 1,2-dichloroethane (ethylene chloride); 1,1-dichloroethylene; 1,2-dichloropropane; 1,3-dichloropropene (Telone); endrin; heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide; gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane (lindane); hexachlorocyclopentadiene; inorganic mercury; methoxychlor; thallium; 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene; trichloroethylene; and toluene.

The workshop will be conducted in accordance with Health and Safety Code Section 57003 (a) and is planned to encourage a constructive dialogue between OEHHA scientists and the public, to discuss the PHG recommendations and to receive comments. Following the workshop, OEHHA will revise the documents as appropriate, and make them available for a 30-day public review and scientific comment period. That review and comment period will be published in the California Regulatory Notice Register at a future date.

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 drinking water standards (State Maximum Contaminant Levels, or MCLs).

Oral and written comments received at the workshop will be considered during revision of the documents. In addition, written comments received by OEHHA by 5:00 p.m. October 6, 1998, will be considered during the revision of the documents. If you would like to receive further information on this workshop or have questions, please contact OEHHA at the address below.

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