Bill > HB815

This bill requires the Director of Environmental Protection to establish rules for drinking water, specifically setting maximum allowable contaminant levels (MCLs) and water quality standards for certain substances. An MCL is the highest amount of a contaminant allowed in drinking water delivered to users of a public water system. The bill mandates the establishment of MCLs for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are a class of chemicals including perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, as well as for chromium-6 and 1,4 dioxane. When creating these rules, the Director must consider MCLs and scientific studies from other states, materials from the federal agency for toxic substances and disease registry, and recent peer-reviewed scientific studies, ensuring the standards are protective of public health, especially for vulnerable groups like pregnant women, nursing mothers, infants, and children, and are at least as stringent as federal standards. The Director will also be required to annually review and update these rules based on the latest scientific research. Additionally, the bill amends existing provisions related to water quality standards, ensuring they are also protective of public health and consider similar scientific and state-level benchmarks for the specified contaminants.