On April 6, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the draft of its sixth Contaminant Candidate List (CCL) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), including, for the first time, microplastics as a priority contaminant group (91 Fed. Reg. 17186). This is yet another indication of how regulatory and litigation attention is increasingly focusing on microplastics. Industrial stakeholders need to be aware.
Background
SDWA Section 1412(b)(1)(B)(i) requires that EPA publish the CCL every five years. Listed contaminants are not regulated under the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations, but either occur or are likely to occur in public drinking water systems. Inclusion on the CCL indicates that the chemical or group of chemicals warrants consideration for regulation under SDWA.
