Public Health Goal (PHG)

A Public Health Goal (PHG) is California's non-enforceable, health-based target concentration for a contaminant in drinking water, established by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) under California Health & Safety Code § 116365.

Where you'll see it on a CCR

California water systems are required to display PHGs in their Consumer Confidence Reports. The CA-specific format uses a three-column comparison table for each regulated contaminant:

| Detected level | California MCL | PHG | |---|---|---| | (measured value) | (enforceable limit) | (health-based goal) |

This layout appears in every California CCR because California's primacy rules under Title 22 mandate the PHG column alongside the state MCL. Federal CCR rules do not require PHG disclosure — the 2024 CCR Rule revisions (89 FR 46013) and the forthcoming 2027 compliance cycle both leave PHG as a California-only layered requirement.

How PHG differs from MCLG

PHG is California's analog of the federal Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG). Both are non-enforceable health-based goals, not legal limits. Neither triggers a violation on its own. But several differences matter in practice:

• Who sets it. OEHHA sets PHGs using California's risk-assessment methodology. EPA sets MCLGs under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
• How strict. California PHGs are frequently lower — often by orders of magnitude — than the corresponding federal MCLGs, because California applies stricter risk thresholds, including carcinogen risk levels as low as one-in-a-million.
• When it was set. OEHHA updates PHGs more frequently than EPA updates MCLGs, so California's values often reflect newer toxicological data.
• Role in rulemaking. Under California Health & Safety Code § 116365, the State Water Resources Control Board must consider the PHG when setting or revising a state MCL under Title 22. PHGs are required input to California's MCL-setting process; federal MCLGs feed federal rulemaking under 42 U.S.C. § 300g-1.

In practice: when a CCR shows a PHG far below both the detected level and the state MCL, it means California's health scientists believe the ideal exposure target is near zero, even though the enforceable limit reflects what is feasible to achieve at scale.

Examples

Two contaminants illustrate the gap between health goals and enforceable limits:

Arsenic

• PHG: 0.004 µg/L (set by OEHHA)
• Federal MCL: 10 µg/L
• The federal limit is 2,500 times the California health goal. Arsenic in drinking water is a known human carcinogen; the PHG reflects a one-in-a-million cancer risk threshold.

Lead

• PHG: 0.2 µg/L (set by OEHHA)
• Federal action level under LCRI (effective November 1, 2027): 10 µg/L
• Lead has no safe level of exposure for children. The PHG of 0.2 µg/L reflects that.

Both PHGs are stated on California CCRs alongside the state MCL and the detected level. A system detecting arsenic at 3 µg/L — below the federal MCL of 10 µg/L — is in compliance, but the CCR still shows a PHG of 0.004 µg/L to give consumers the full context.

Related terms

• Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) — the federal equivalent; set by EPA, not OEHHA
• Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) — the annual report that displays detected levels alongside MCLs and PHGs
• California CCR requirements — state-specific format rules that mandate PHG disclosure
• Arsenic in drinking water — contaminant with a PHG 2,500x below the federal MCL
• Glossary index — all CCR terms defined

Citations

1. California Health & Safety Code § 116365 — statutory authority for PHG program: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
2. OEHHA Public Health Goals for chemicals in drinking water: oehha.ca.gov/water/public-health-goals
3. 40 CFR §§ 141.151–141.156 (CCR Rule, post-2024 revisions): law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/40/part-141/subpart-O
4. Federal Register 89 FR 46013 (CCR Rule Revisions, May 24, 2024): document 2024-10919

Last reviewed: 2026-05-03. Regulatory data current as of review date. PHG values from OEHHA; verify at oehha.ca.gov before citing in a published CCR.