DRAFT - May change upon publication of the proposal. United States Environmental Protection Agency Revisions to the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5) for Public Water Systems Fact Sheet for the Proposed Rule Summary The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5). This action identifies a new list of unregulated priority contaminants for public water system (PWS) monitoring and applies to the period of 2022-2026, with sample collection proposed between 2023-2025. The UCMR 5 proposal fulfills a key commitment of the "EPA's 2019 Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Action Plan" (htips://www.epa.gov/pfas/epas-pfas-action-plan) by including the collection of drinking water occurrence data for a broader group of PFAS (i.e., building on the monitoring for six PFAS that took place under UCMR 3). What is the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR)? Every five years, EPA uses the UCMR to monitor for the highest priority unregulated drinking water contaminants at PWSs across the United States. Occurrence data collected under the fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5) will be used by EPA as basis for future regulatory determinations and may support additional actions to protect public health. As part of its responsibilities under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), EPA implements section 1445(a)(2), Monitoring Program for Unregulated Contaminants. This section, as amended in 1996, requires that EPA establish a program to monitor for priority unregulated contaminants in drinking water every 5 years. The SDWA, as amended by section 2021 of America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (AWIA) (Public Law 115-270), specifies that EPA's UCMR program must require all PWSs serving between 3,300 and 10,000 people to monitor for the contaminants in a particular UCMR cycle, and ensure that only a nationally representative sample of PWSs serving fewer than 3,300 people are required to monitor for those contaminants; this expanded scope is conditioned on the availability of appropriations and appropriate laboratory capacity. Per AWIA, the UCMR program will continue to include PWSs serving a population larger than 10,000 people. Additionally, section 7311 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (NDAA) (Public Law 116-92) amends the SDWA and specifies that the Administrator shall include each PFAS in UCMR 5 for which a drinking water method has been validated by the Administrator, and that are not subject to a national primary drinking water regulation. The first, second, third, and fourth UCMRs were published on September 17, 1999, January 4, 2007, May 2, 2012, and December 20, 2016, respectively. EPA anticipates that the UCMR 5 final rule will be published in December 2021. Office of Water (MS-140) EPA 815-F-20-004 December 2020 ------- What contaminants are being proposed for UCMR 5? The UCMR 5 proposal specifies Assessment Monitoring for the 30 contaminants (29 PFAS and lithium) listed in the table below. 29 Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) ll-chloroeicosafluoro-3-oxaundecane-l- sulfonic acid (HCI-PF30UdS) perfluoro-4-methoxybutanoic acid (PFMBA) perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorodecane sulfonic acid (8:2 FTS) perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (4:2 FTS) perfluorobutanoicacid (PFBA) perfluoropentanesulfonic acid (PFPeS) 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (6:2 FTS) perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPeA) 4,8-dioxa-3H-perfluorononanoic acid (ADONA)1 perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoA) perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnA) 9-chlorohexadecafluoro-3-oxanone-l- sulfonic acid (9CI-PF30NS) perfluoroheptanesulfonic acid (PFHpS) n-ethyl perfluorooctanesulfonamidoacetic acid (NEtFOSAA) hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA) (GenX) perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA) n-methyl perfluorooctanesulfonamidoacetic acid (NMeFOSAA) nonafluoro-3,6-dioxaheptanoic acid (NFDHA) perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) perfluorotetradecanoic acid (PFTA) perfluoro (2-ethoxyethane) sulfonic acid (PFEESA) perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) perfluorotridecanoic acid (PFTrDA) perfluoro-3-methoxypropanoic acid (PFMPA) perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) 1. Although the abbreviation used is ADONA, indicating the ammonium salt, 4,8-dioxa-3H-perfluorononanoic acid is the parent acid. 1 Metal/Pharmaceutical lithium Where can I find more information? General information is available on the UCMR web page. Questions may be directed to the Safe Drinking Water Information website at: https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/safe-drinking-water-information. Page 2 of 2 ------- |