South Carolina proposes updated drinking-water regulations with possible Aug. 14 hearing in Columbia

The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services has opened a public-comment period on proposed amendments to the state’s primary drinking-water regulations, a statewide rule update that the agency says is tied to federal-law compliance requirements and 2026 Act No. 146.

The proposal concerns Regulation 61-58, South Carolina’s Primary Drinking Water Regulations. DES published the notice on July 24, 2026, and says comments will be accepted through Aug. 24, 2026.

Hearing was contingent on request

The notice listed a public hearing for Aug. 14 at 10 a.m. at the South Carolina Administrative Law Court in the Edgar Brown Building, 1205 Pendleton St. in Columbia. But the hearing was not automatic.

DES said the hearing would be canceled unless it received a qualifying request by 5 p.m. on July 27, 2026. The available notice does not establish whether such a request was received, so it does not confirm that the Aug. 14 hearing will proceed or has proceeded.

That distinction matters for people following the rulemaking: the published notice provides both a comment deadline and a conditional hearing process, rather than confirming a final regulation or a guaranteed public hearing.

What remains proposed

The amendments are proposals, not finalized rules. The notice describes them as implementing federal-law compliance requirements and cites 2026 Act No. 146, but the available material does not detail the specific regulatory language or compliance costs.

The proposal could be relevant to public-water systems and to the state’s drinking-water oversight because Regulation 61-58 governs primary drinking-water regulations. However, the notice alone does not establish a specific effect on Columbia’s water system or on any individual utility.

DES’s published comment period remains the next identified opportunity for public input, running through Aug. 24. Anyone assessing the proposal’s practical requirements would need to review the full proposed regulatory text rather than treat the notice itself as a final rule or a description of all compliance obligations.

The agency’s notice places the proposal within South Carolina’s formal regulatory process, with the July 24 publication date, the July 27 hearing-request cutoff, the conditional Aug. 14 hearing date and the Aug. 24 end of the public-comment period marking the key dates identified by DES.