U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Christie Whitman recently announced that EPA will propose to withdraw the pending arsenic standard for drinking water that was issued on Jan. 22. The rule would have reduced the acceptable level of arsenic in water from 50 parts per billion(ppb) to 10 ppb.
EPA will seek independent reviews of both the science behind the standard and of the estimates of the costs to communities of implementing the rule. A final decision on withdrawal is expected after the public has an opportunity to comment.