The Trump administration touted an announcement on microplastics as a “major step” toward safeguarding drinking water, but the plan sidesteps questions about whether EPA will require widespread monitoring.
The agency is keeping mum on whether it will include microplastics in a pending monitoring rule for water contaminants, a procedural — but critical — move that would lay the groundwork for possible regulations.
At a splashy event with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on Thursday unveiled a new draft list of contaminants that are likely to show up in drinking water, putting microplastics and pharmaceuticals on the list for the first time. While the move identifies pollutants on EPA’s radar for future regulations, the vast majority of contaminants never make it that far.
Environmentalists and some water experts said it remains to be seen whether the agency has the resources or will to take another step: tracking the substances to determine how ubiquitous they are in tap water.
