[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 209 (Wednesday, October 29, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56164-56165]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-28554]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-5914-8]
EPA's National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence Data Base
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Announcement of a Joint Requirements Planning Meeting on the
National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence Data Base.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has scheduled a
five-day Joint Requirement Planning (JRP) meeting on EPA's development
of a National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence Data Base (NCOD).
The JRP is a structured meeting designed to gather requirements on a
new information system from a varied body of stakeholders with an
interest in the system. At the upcoming meeting, EPA is seeking input
from key national, State, individual stakeholders and other interested
parties concerning the objectives, questions and data elements to be
addressed in the design and development of the NCOD.
DATES: The Joint Requirements Planning Meeting on the National Drinking
Water Contaminant Occurrence Data Base will be held on November 17-21,
1997 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in the WIC-2 South conference room
at USEPA Waterside Mall, 401 M Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20460. For
additional information, please contact Harriet Colbert, at phone: (202)
260-2302, fax: (202) 260-3762, or by e-mail at
colbert.harriet@epamail.epa.gov. Members of the public wishing to
attend the meeting may register by phone by contacting Harriet Colbert
by October 31, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information and logistics for the
meeting, please contact Harriet Colbert, at phone: (202) 260-2302, fax:
(202) 260-3762, or by e-mail at colbert.harriet@epamail.epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background on the National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence
Data Base Section 126(g)(1) of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments
of 1996 (SDWA) requires the Administrator to assemble and maintain a
national drinking water contaminant occurrence database by using
information on the occurrence of both regulated and unregulated
contaminants in public water systems and reliable information from
other public and private sources. This National Contaminant Occurrence
Database (NCOD) will be a collection of data of documented quality on
unregulated and regulated chemical or microbial contaminants likely to
occur in drinking water systems. The purpose of the data system is to
support the identification and selection of contaminants for future
regulation or other appropriate actions and to support the review of
existing regulations for possible modification. The database must be
developed no later than three years after the date of enactment of the
SDWA Amendments. Therefore, SDWA requires the Office of Ground Water
and Drinking Water (OGWDW) to develop the NCOD by August 6, 1999.
B. Request for stakeholder Involvement. At the May 1997 NCOD
Stakeholders meeting, there was general concurrence that the primary
user of the database will be EPA. Stakeholders such as industry,
environmental groups, States and the general public are secondary
users. As a result of the meeting, the NCOD Team established a system
development strategy. The strategy will serve as a ``road map'' over
the next two years for developing the first release of the data base to
meet the statutory requirements. One of the major steps in implementing
the development strategy is to determine what the needs are and
specifically what types of data are required to meet those needs. User
requirements will serve as the foundation upon which the database will
be developed.
Discussion materials will be available at the meeting. The specific
issue for discussion at the meeting will be what data elements are
needed to allow sound scientific analysis to support contaminant
identification, contaminant selection, regulatory development, and
regulatory re-examination.
The public is invited to provide comments on the issue listed above
or other issues related to the National Drinking Water Contaminant
Occurrence Data Base during the November 17-21 meeting.
[[Page 56165]]
Dated: October 23, 1997.
Elizabeth Fellows,
Acting Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.
[FR Doc. 97-28554 Filed 10-28-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
