On April 15, 2014, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) submitted the Final Statement of Reasons for the Hexavalent Chromium Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) to the Office of Administrative Law. No significant changes were made to the draft MCL of 10 ppb (µg/L) released by CDPH in August 2013, despite the receipt of approximately 18,000 comments on the proposal. The MCL will become effective on July 1, 2014, once it is approved by the Office of Administrative...

On Thursday, August 22, 2013, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) published notice of a draft Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 10 ppb (µg/L) for hexavalent chromium. The MCL proposal is higher than the 0.02 ppb public health goal adopted by OEHHA in 2011, but is significantly below the existing California MCL, in existence since the 1970s, of 50 ppb for total chromium and the current federal MCL for total chromium of 100 ppb. CDPH will seek public comment on the...

Hexavalent chromium (“Cr6”) is an element that is found in drinking water from natural sources and from historical industrial uses. At present, there is no separate drinking water standard for Cr6. There is a federal and state drinking water standard for total chromium (all valences of chromium including Cr6). The federal drinking water standard for total chromium is 100 micrograms per liter of water (“ug/L”) and the California drinking water standard for total chromium is...