Review of national & International management approaches for compounds of emerging concerns

In the U.S., federal, regional, local, and state regulatory agencies struggle to develop CEC management plans that provide assurance to the public, while balancing often incomplete risk profiles and increasing lists of detected compounds. Several federal programs exist for the management and control of CECs, but the extent and scope or these individual programs and their relative interaction are not widely understood. Outside of the U.S., several countries have proposed or implemented alternative management strategies to the U.S. for CECs in water. Most noticeable are initiatives in the European Union, Switzerland, Germany, Asia, and Australia. This paper summarizes programs for CECs in the U.S., the European Union, and Switzerland. Regulatory and non-regulatory CEC management strategies are discussed and placed in the relevant regulatory, social-political, and topographical context specific to each country.