98-33116. Stakeholders Meeting on Chemical Monitoring Revisions for Public Water Systems

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 241 (Wednesday, December 16, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 69256]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-33116]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 141 and 142

[FRL-6202-1]


Stakeholders Meeting on Chemical Monitoring Revisions for Public 
Water Systems

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Announcement of stakeholders meeting.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a 
two-day public meeting on January 12 and January 13, 1999 in 
Washington, D.C. Please be advised that if the agenda is completed on 
January 12, the meeting will not resume on January 13, 1999. The 
purpose of this meeting will be to collect input on the appropriate 
course of action to take with the Agency's effort to revise the 
monitoring requirements for certain chemicals in drinking water. The 
EPA has completed a review of new occurrence data and intends to 
present a summary of these findings at the meeting. The data reviewed 
and analyzed includes public water supply (PWS) compliance monitoring 
data and data from other water-quality contaminant occurrence data 
bases. Most of the data was formatted to extrapolate information 
regarding contaminant occurrence rates, occurrence by contaminant 
groups, contaminant co-occurrence, system vulnerability to synthetic 
and volatile organic compounds, seasonal and temporal variations, 
contaminant variability categorized by source and system size, and an 
evaluation of the national representativeness of the data sets.
    The EPA will consider the comments and views expressed during this 
meeting to determine whether it should proceed with the suggested 
revisions as presented in the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule Making 
(ANPRM) for Chemical Monitoring Reform or consider other approaches and 
modifications. The EPA encourages the full participation of all 
stakeholders throughout this process.

DATES: The stakeholder meeting will be held on January 12, 1999, 9:30 
a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and may be extended to January 13, 1999 9:30 a.m. to 
12:00 p.m. EST in Washington, D.C.

ADDRESSES: To register for the meeting, please contact the EPA Safe 
Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791, or Ed Thomas of the EPA's 
Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water at [phone]. 
Participants registering in advance will be mailed a packet of 
materials before the meeting. Interested parties who cannot attend the 
meeting in person may participate via conference call and should 
register with the Safe Drinking Water Hotline. Conference lines will be 
allocated on the basis of first reserved, first served. The stakeholder 
meeting will be held at the Wyndham Bristol Hotel, 2430 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on meeting 
logistics, please contact the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-
4791. For information on the activities related to this rulemaking, 
contact: Ed Thomas, U.S. EPA at [phone] or E-mail to 
[e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 3, 1997, EPA issued an Advance 
Notice of Proposed Rule Making (ANPRM) for Chemical Monitoring Reform 
(CMR) and Permanent Monitoring Relief (PMR). This ANPRM suggested 
regulatory changes in chemical monitoring requirements that would focus 
monitoring on systems at risk of contamination and on the contaminants 
posing such risk. The regulatory changes suggested in the ANPRM covered 
64 chronic contaminants including inorganic chemicals (IOCs), synthetic 
organic chemicals (SOCs) and volatile organic chemicals (VOCs).
    The monitoring changes suggested in the ANPRM were developed, in 
part, considering the occurrence data that were available at that time. 
Recognizing that these data were limited, we solicited additional data 
for use in developing the proposed rule. In response to this 
solicitation and as part of additional information gathering, EPA 
identified 17 potential data sources. The Agency completed a 
preliminary review of these data sets and presented a summary of that 
review at a stakeholder meeting on April 6, 1998, in Washington, D.C. 
On the basis of its initial review and consultation with stakeholders, 
the EPA was not able to say that the new data were simply supplementary 
data that supported and confirmed the possible changes to the 
monitoring requirements set forth in the ANPRM. Stakeholders at the 
April 6 meeting agreed with this decision. Following the April 6 
Stakeholder meeting, EPA published a Federal Register Notice on July 
30, 1998 indicating that the Agency had completed a review of the 
monitoring requirements for chemical contaminants in drinking water and 
believed that it was inappropriate to proceed with the ANPRM until it 
had completed its analysis of the new data.
    Stakeholders at the April 6 meeting also requested that a ``data 
analysis plan'' be forwarded to them for review. On June 8, 1998, the 
plan was sent to the Stakeholders. The EPA incorporated stakeholder 
comments and proceeded with data analyses in accordance with the plan. 
The Agency has completed its review of the data and intends to present 
their findings at the two-day stakeholder meeting on January 12 and 13, 
1999.
Cynthia C. Dougherty,
Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.
[FR Doc. 98-33116 Filed 12-15-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P