Maximum Contaminant Level

Subscribe to Maximum Contaminant Level via RSS

By Michael S. Feeley, John C. Heintz, Bobbi-Jo Dobush and James J. Chang

On October 31, 2013, Judge Evelio Grillo of the Alameda County Superior Court held a hearing in the ongoing case of NRDC v. California Department of Public Health, Cal. Super. Ct. No. RG12643520 to take evidence regarding the quantity and nature of public comments on the draft Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for Chromium-6 (Cr-6) and the expected timing for California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to finalize the regulation.  Judge Grillo had previously directed the CDPH to issue a draft MCL for Cr-6 before September 1, 2013.  In advance of that deadline (August 23, 2013), CDPH published a draft regulation that would establish an MCL in drinking water of 10 parts per billion.[1]  The 45-day public comment period on the draft MCL closed on October 11, 2013.[2] 

By Bobbi-Jo Dobush and John C. Heintz

On July 18, 2013, Judge Evelio Grillo of the Alameda County Superior Court in NRDC v. California Department of Public Health, Cal. Super. Ct., No. RG12643520, directed the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to issue a draft Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) in drinking water for Chromium-6 (Cr-6) before September 1, 2013[1].  In 2001, the California State Legislature directed CDPH to issue a Cr-6 MCL by January 1, 2004, but it has not been issued to date.[2]  CDPH had previously indicated it expected to issue the draft MCL for public comment in July 2013,[3]  but the Alameda County Superior Court’s recent decision makes the likelihood of release significantly more certain.[4]