Virginia Code 32.1-169: Supervision by Board.
A. The Board shall have general supervision and control over all water supplies and waterworks in the Commonwealth insofar as the bacteriological, chemical, radiological, and physical quality of waters furnished for human consumption may affect the public health and welfare and may require that all water supplies be pure water. In exercising such supervision and control, the Board shall recognize the relationship between an owner‘s financial, technical, managerial, and operational capabilities and his capacity to comply with state and federal drinking water standards.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 32.1-169
- Department: means the State Department of Health. See Virginia Code 32.1-3
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Human consumption: means drinking, food preparation, dishwashing, bathing, showering, hand washing, teeth brushing, and maintaining oral hygiene. See Virginia Code 32.1-167
- Owner: means an individual, group of individuals, partnership, firm, association, institution, corporation, governmental entity, or the federal government, that supplies or proposes to supply water to any person within this Commonwealth from or by means of any waterworks. See Virginia Code 32.1-167
- Pure water: means water fit for human consumption that is (i) sanitary and normally free of minerals, organic substances, and toxic agents in excess of reasonable amounts and (ii) adequate in quantity and quality for the minimum health requirements of the persons served. See Virginia Code 32.1-167
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- Waterworks: includes all structures, equipment, and appurtenances used in the storage, collection, purification, treatment, and distribution of pure water except the piping and fixtures inside the building where such water is delivered. See Virginia Code 32.1-167
B. The Board shall adopt regulations establishing maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) in all water supplies and waterworks in the Commonwealth for (i) perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate, and for such other perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances as the Board deems necessary; (ii) chromium-6; and (iii) 1,4-dioxane. Each MCL shall be protective of public health, including of vulnerable subpopulations, including pregnant and nursing mothers, infants, children, and the elderly, and shall not exceed any MCL or health advisory for the same contaminant adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In establishing such MCLs, the Board shall review the recommendations of any work group convened by the Commissioner after July 1, 2022, to study the occurrence of such contaminants in public drinking water, MCLs adopted by other states, studies and scientific evidence reviewed by such states, material in the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry of the U.S. Department of Health, and current peer-reviewed scientific studies produced independently or by government agencies.
Code 1950, § 62.1-46; 1964, c. 475; 1968, c. 659; 1977, c. 7; 1979, c. 711; 1994, c. 395; 2014, c. 333; 2020, c. 1097; 2022, c. 585.