Request for Nominations for the Science Advisory Board Microbial and Disinfection Byproducts (MDBP) Revisions Review Panel

Issuing agencies

Abstract

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office requests public nominations of scientific experts to form a Panel to review the draft analyses to support EPA's revisions of the Microbial and Disinfection Byproducts (MDBP) National Primary Drinking Water rules. EPA is currently conducting analyses to evaluate eight (i.e., chlorite, Cryptosporidium, haloacetic acids, heterotrophic bacteria, Giardia lamblia, Legionella, total trihalomethanes, and viruses) National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWRs) for potential regulatory revisions with a consideration of risk tradeoffs across microbial control versus disinfection byproduct formation. EPA is exploring approaches to determine how public water systems (PWSs) can achieve enhanced precursor removal to reduce disinfection byproduct (DBP) formation in drinking water. EPA's analysis summarizes the current literature on DBP precursor occurrence and treatment, identifies technology based on effectiveness and feasibility, and determines the unit cost of technologies for enhanced removal. EPA is also preparing analyses to support a numerical disinfectant residual requirement within the drinking water distribution system. This analysis will include an inventory on vulnerable PWSs, feasibility studies for maintaining a numerical disinfectant residual, and methods for assessing effectiveness of a numerical residual in controlling microbial growth in the distribution system including for opportunistic pathogens such as Legionella. The SAB MDBP Revisions Review Panel will consider whether the conclusions found in the EPA's analyses are clearly presented and scientifically supported. The Panel will also be asked to provide recommendations on how the analyses may be strengthened.