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Committee approves groundwater-quality rule with carve-outs for unsettled federal standards
Summary
The committee approved Docket 58-0111-2501 (Ground Water Quality Rule) but explicitly rejected Section 003 and Section 200.01.a — provisions that would incorporate unsettled federal contaminant standards — pending federal clarification, and directed DEQ to pursue additional negotiated rulemaking.
Jerri Henry, Drinking Water Protection and Finance Division Administrator at the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, presented Docket No. 58-0111-2501, a zero-based rewrite of Idaho’s Ground Water Quality Rule intended to protect aquifers by setting state groundwater-quality standards and requirements for activities that could affect groundwater. Henry told the committee the rewrite adopted by reference many Environmental Protection Agency national drinking-water standards (including acceptable groundwater levels for arsenic, uranium, lead, and PFAS), but that incorporation of some federal standards is uncertain because of ongoing litigation at the federal level.
Senator VanOrden moved to approve the docket with the exception of Section 003 and Section 200, Subsection 01.a; Senator Harris seconded. The motion cited Idaho Code § 39-102 and § 39-120(4) and concluded that incorporating unresolved federal standards could establish enforceable thresholds before the federal standards are final. The committee approved the motion by voice vote and recorded that DEQ intends to pursue additional negotiated rulemaking to allow broader stakeholder participation and to gather Idaho-specific data before finalizing the rejected sections.
