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Draft rule links local fluoridation to EPA MCLG; triggers 90-day notice if federal benchmark changes
Summary
The draft regulation would tie county procedures to any EPA revision of the fluoride MCLG: affected water systems would have 90 days to notify the county if they choose to continue fluoridation, and those systems would be exempt from enforcement under the county rule while the department publishes educational material.
The proposed county regulation would not itself ban fluoridation but would create a process linked to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's maximum contaminant level goal for fluoride. Dr. Remington Nevan, the county medical director, explained that if the EPA revises the MCLG in its expedited fluoride assessment, any community water supply with total fluoride concentrations above the revised MCLG would have 90 days to file written notice electing to continue fluoridation. "A community water supply that files such notice within the 90 day period would be expressly exempt from enforcement under the regulation with respect to that fluoride addition," Dr. Nevan said.
Neven said the department would then prepare an educational document summarizing the health risks identified by the EPA at levels exceeding the revised MCLG and provide that document to each affected municipality and make the notice publicly available. The proposal is framed as a county-level notification and public-information mechanism that preserves local water-systems' ability to continue fluoridation while increasing transparency about federal-identified health risks.
