The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing this week on drinking water amid uncertainty on the matter from the incoming Trump administration.
The hearing comes on the heels of two major new rules from EPA intended to make drinking water safer. The future of those rules — requiring utilities to reduce contamination from lead and from “forever chemicals” — is unclear in the coming year.
Senators will hear from a former EPA water official as well as a state health official and the leader of the Navajo Nation.
EPA’s first-ever national standard for “forever chemicals,” also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, could be a focus. The agency finalized that rule in April, targeting six PFAS from drinking water.
