STANDARD-SETTlNG.

SEC. 104. STANDARD-SETTlNG. (a) In General.— Section 1412(b) (42 U.S.C. 300g-1(b)) is amended as follows: (1) In paragraph (4)— (A) by striking “(4) Each” and inserting the following: “(4) Goals and standards.— “(A) Maximum contaminant level goals.— Each”; (B) in the last sentence— (i) by striking “Each national” and inserting the following: “(B) Maximum contaminant levels.— Except as provided in paragraphs (5) and (6), each national”; and (ii) by striking “maximum level” and inserting “maximum contaminant level”; and (C) by adding at the end the following: “(C) Determination.— At the time the Administrator proposes a national primary drinking water regulation under this paragraph, the Administrator shall publish a determination as to whether the benefits of the maximum contaminant level justify, or do not justify, the costs based on the analysis conducted under paragraph (3)(C).”. (2) By striking “(5) For the” and inserting the following: “(D) Definition of feasible.— For the”. (3) In the second sentence of paragraph (4)(D) (as so designated), by striking “paragraph (4)” and inserting “this paragraph”. (4) By striking “(6) Each national” and inserting the following: “(E) Feasible technologies.— “(i) In general.— Each national”. (5) In paragraph (4)(E)(i) (as so designated), by striking “this paragraph” and inserting “this subsection”. (6) By inserting after paragraph (4) (as so amended) the following: “(5) Additional health risk considerations.— “(A) In general.— Notwithstanding paragraph (4), the Administrator may establish a maximum contaminant level for a contaminant at a level other than the feasible level, if the technology, treatment techniques, and other means used to determine the feasible level would result in an increase in the health risk from drinking water by— “(i) increasing the concentration of other contaminants in drinking water; or “(ii) interfering with the efficacy of drinking water treatment techniques or processes that are used to comply with other national primary drinking water regulations. “(B) Establishment of level.— If the Administrator establishes a maximum contaminant level or levels or requires the use of treatment techniques for any contaminant or contaminants pursuant to the authority of this paragraph— 110 STAT. 1624 “(i) the level or levels or treatment techniques shall minimize the overall risk of adverse health effects by balancing the risk from the contaminant and the risk from other contaminants the concentrations of which may be affected by the use of a treatment technique or process that would be employed to attain the maximum contaminant level or levels; and “(ii) the combination of technology, treatment techniques, or other means required to meet the level or levels shall not be more stringent than is feasible (as defined in paragraph (4)(D)). “(6) Additional health risk reduction and cost considerations.— “(A) In general.— Notwithstanding paragraph (4), the Administrator determines based on an analysis conducted under paragraph (3)(C) that the benefits of a maximum contaminant level promulgated in accordance with paragraph (4) would not justify the costs of complying with the level, the Administrator may, after notice and opportunity for public comment, promulgate a maximum contaminant level for the contaminant that maximizes health risk reduction benefits at a cost that is justified by the benefits. “(B) Exception.— The Administrator shall not use the authority of this paragraph to promulgate a maximum contaminant level for a contaminant, if the benefits of compliance with a national primary drinking water regulation for the contaminant that would be promulgated in accordance with paragraph (4) experienced by— “(i) persons served by large public water systems; and “(ii) persons served by such other systems as are unlikely, based on information provided by the States, to receive a variance under section 1415(e) (relating to small system variances); would justify the costs to the systems of complying with the regulation. This subparagraph shall not apply if the contaminant is found almost exclusively in small systems eligible under section 1415(e) for a small system variance. “(C) Disinfectants and disinfection byproducts.— The Administrator may not use the authority of this paragraph to establish a maximum contaminant level in a Stage I or Stage II national primary drinking water regulation (as described in paragraph (2)(C)) for contaminants that are disinfectants or disinfection byproducts, or to establish a maximum contaminant level or treatment technique requirement for the control of cryptosporidium. The authority of this paragraph may be used to establish regulations for the use of disinfection by systems relying on ground water sources as required by paragraph (8). “(D) Judicial review.— A determination by the Administrator that the benefits of a maximum contaminant level or treatment requirement justify or do not justify the costs of complying with the level shall be reviewed by the court pursuant to section 1448 only as part of a review of a final national primary drinking water regulation that has been promulgated based on the determination 110 STAT. 1625and shall not be set aside by the court under that section unless the court finds that the determination is arbitrary and capricious.”. (b) Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts.— The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency may use the authority of section 1412(b)(5) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (as amended by this Act) to promulgate the Stage I and Stage II Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rules as proposed in volume 59, Federal Register, page 38668 (July 29, 1994). The considerations used in the development of the July 29, 1994, proposed national primary drinking water regulation on disinfectants and disinfection byproducts shall be treated as consistent with such section 1412(b)(5) for purposes of such Stage I and Stage II rules. (c) Review of Standards.— Section 1412(b)(9) (42 U.S.C. 300g-1(b)(9)) is amended to read as follows: “(9) Review and revision.— The Administrator shall, not less often than every 6 years, review and revise, as appropriate, each national primary drinking water regulation promulgated under this title. Any revision of a national primary drinking water regulation shall be promulgated in accordance with this section, except that each revision shall maintain, or provide for greater, protection of the health of persons.”.