Public Drinking Water

216-RICR-50-05-1 ADVANCE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE

Title 216 Department of Health
Chapter 50 Environmental Health
Subchapter 05 Water Quality
Part 1 Public Drinking Water
Type of Filing Amendment
Regulation Status Advance Notice
Filing Notice Date 01/15/2025
Filing Hearing Date(s) 02/10/2025
Public Comment Dates 01/15/2025 to 02/15/2025

Regulation Authority:

R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-32-1 et seq.

Advance Notice Details:

In accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-35-2.5 and R.I. Gen. Laws § 46-13-18, advance notice is hereby given that the Rhode Island Department of Health (“RIDOH”) plans to propose amendments to the Rhode Island Public Drinking Water regulations (216-RICR-50-05-1) (the “PDW Regulations”) to adopt the requirements of two federal National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (“NPDWRs”) promulgated in 2024 by the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (“SDWA”): 

  1. The “PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation,” published as a Final Rule on April 26, 2024 (and a corrected version of the Final Rule published on June 11, 2024) (the “PFAS NPDWR”); and 
  2. The revisions to the NPDWR for Consumer Confidence Reports (the “Revised CCR NPDWR”), published as a Final Rule on May 24, 2024. 

Provided below is a summary of the two NPDWRs, in addition to links to the NPDWR Final Rules and EPA webpages with additional information and resources about the Final Rules.

By way of background, RIDOH is the state primacy agency responsible for enforcing the federal NPDWRs. In accordance with SDWA and 40 CFR Part 142, RIDOH must adopt state regulations that are at least as stringent as the NPDWRs in order to attain and maintain primacy. Pursuant to federal regulations, and with limited exceptions, primacy agencies have two years after promulgation of any new or revised NPDWR to adopt the NPDWR requirements at the state level and seek approval from EPA. 

RIDOH is in the process of developing amendments to the PDW Regulations consistent with the NPDWRs. Through this advance notice process, RIDOH hopes to engage with the regulated community to inform them of the impending regulatory changes and seeks public comment on whether Rhode Island should be more stringent than the NPDWRs in any way. RIDOH is holding two community review meetings, one for each NPDWR. The meetings will be held in a hybrid format—in person and virtually via Teams. The link to access the Teams meeting is directly below. The location of the in-person meeting and other meeting details is in the “Public Hearing” section of this notice.


Please note that these meetings, while open to the public, are not public hearings as indicated further in this notice and as contemplated by the statute governing the hearing process for regular proposed rulemakings (R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-­35-­2.8). This notice, including the public hearing sections and references, derives from a template notice used for regular proposed rulemakings, subject to the notice and hearing requirements of R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 42­-35-­2.7 and -­2.8. These community review meetings are informal meetings intended to solicit comments and recommendations from the public in advance of formally proposing rule amendments.

Brief Summary of the NPDWRs:

The PFAS NPDWR sets individual maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for five per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water, and a hazard index MCL for PFAS mixtures containing at least two or more of PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA, and PFBS. The NPDWR also sets health-based, non-enforceable maximum contaminant level goals (MCLGs) for these PFAS. The MCLs and MCLGs are as follows:

Compound

Final MCLG

Final MCL (enforceable levels)

PFOA

Zero

4.0 parts per trillion (ppt) (also expressed as ng/L)

PFOS

Zero

4.0 ppt

PFHxS

10 ppt

10 ppt

PFNA

10 ppt

10 ppt

HFPO-DA (commonly known as GenX Chemicals)

10 ppt

10 ppt

Mixtures containing two or more of PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA, and PFBS

1 (unitless)

Hazard Index

1 (unitless)

Hazard Index

The PFAS NPDWR also includes related monitoring, reporting, and compliance requirements for these PFAS. Public water systems must monitor for these PFAS and have three years to complete initial monitoring (by 2027), followed by ongoing compliance monitoring. Water systems must also provide the public with information on the levels of these PFAS in their drinking water beginning in 2027. Public water systems have five years (by 2029) to implement solutions that reduce these PFAS if monitoring shows that drinking water levels exceed these MCLs. Beginning in five years (2029), public water systems that have PFAS in drinking water which violates one or more of these MCLs must take action to reduce levels of these PFAS in their drinking water and must provide notification to the public of the violation.


The Revised CCR NPDWR includes changes to make annual drinking water quality reports more understandable and accessible to the public. These reports are an important tool that certain drinking water systems are required to use to inform residents about water quality, violations, and any contaminants that have been found in the water. Starting in 2027, the final rule requires that these reports are easier to read and support access to translations in appropriate languages while enhancing information about lead in drinking water. The final rule also streamlines the delivery of reports by encouraging electronic methods. Water systems are currently required to provide annual drinking water reports to customers each year, and with this rule systems serving over 10,000 customers will be required to distribute reports twice per year. 


Links to EPA’s Final Rules as published in the Federal Register:

Links to EPA webpages providing additional information about the two NPDWRs:

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Comment(s) Received*

The agency is not accepting online public comments for this filing.To submit a comment, please contact the agency directly at the addresses listed on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

* This count refers to the total comment submissions received on this document, as of 11:59 PM yesterday.
Note: Agencies review all submissions; however, some agencies may choose to withhold certain submissions such as those containing private or sensitive information, profane or threatening language, or duplicate/near duplicate examples of a mass-mail campaign. This can result in discrepancies between this count and the actual number of comments displayed on this page. For specific information about a comment you submitted, please contact the agency directly.


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