[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 157 (Thursday, August 14, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 43492-43493]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-21537]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 141
[FRL-5874-7]
Stakeholders Meeting on Drinking Water Regulation Action
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Announcement of Stakeholders meeting on EPA's revision to the
public notification rule under the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
amendments.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a
public meeting on August 27, 1997. The purpose of the meeting will be
to gather information and collect opinions from parties who will be
affected by provisions of the Public Notification Rule of the new Safe
Drinking Water Act (SDWA), amended in 1996. Comments and views
expressed will be used to help develop the new Federal and state
program requirements. EPA is seeking input from State drinking water
programs, the regulated community (public water systems), public health
and safety organizations, environmental and public interest groups, and
other stakeholders on a number of issues related to developing the
drinking water regulation. EPA encourages the full participation of all
stakeholders throughout this process.
DATES: The stakeholder meeting on the drinking water regulation for
public notification will be held on August 27, 1997, from 10 a.m. to
3:30 p.m. Central Daylight Savings Time.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Rice Auditorium, Indiana
State Department of Health, 1330 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis,
Indiana. For information on meeting logistics or if you want to
register for the meeting, please contact the EPA Safe Drinking Water
Hotline at 1-800-426-4791, or Stacy Jones of the Indiana Department of
Environmental Management at (317) 308-3292. Participants registering in
advance will be mailed a packet of materials before the meeting.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carl Reeverts, U.S. EPA, at (202) 260-
7273; or Linda Selmer, U.S. EPA, Region 5 Office, at (312) 886-6197.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Environmental Protection Agency is
developing revised Public Notification regulations (under existing 40
CFR 141.32) to incorporate the new provisions enacted under the 1996
Safe Drinking Water Amendments (SDWA), specifically the amended
sections 1414 (c)(1) and (c)(2) of the SDWA. The 1996 SDWA amendments
completely replaced the language in the statute under 1414(c). There is
no statutory deadline for implementing the amended sections 1414(c)(1)
and (c)(2).
The Administrator is required by statute to prescribe by regulation
the manner, frequency, form, and content that public water systems must
follow for giving public notice. The 1996 SDWA amendments amended this
EPA obligation to require consultation with the States prior to
rulemaking. Public Water Systems are currently required to notify their
customers whenever: (1) A violation of any drinking water regulation
occurs (including MCL, treatment technique, and monitoring/reporting
requirements); (2) a variance or exemption (V&E) to those regulations
is in place or the conditions of the V&E are violated; or (3) results
from unregulated contaminant monitoring required under section 1445 of
the SDWA are received. This coverage was
[[Page 43493]]
not changed by the 1996 SDWA Amendments.
The current rule sets different requirements based on the type of
violation and type of system. The 1996 SDWA amendments substantially
alter what is currently in place: (1) SDWA section 1414(c)(2)(C)
requires notice within 24 hours and sets other new, more prescriptive
notice requirements for violations with ``Potential to Have Serious
Adverse Health Risks to Human Health''; (2) SDWA section 1414(c)(2)(D)
gives EPA more discretion to set less prescriptive notice requirements
for all other violations, including requiring the notice in an annual
report; and (3) SDWA section 1414(c)(2)(B) allows the State to
prescribe alternative notification requirements by rule to the form and
content of the notice, consistent with the current primacy
requirements.
To meet the letter and spirit of the new statutory provisions, EPA
will hold three or more public stakeholder meetings prior to drafting
the regulation. This is the first of the scheduled stakeholder meetings
that are planned over the next several months, to exchange information
on our mutual experience with the current regulation and the elements
needed in the new regulation to meet the intent of Congress. The
legislative changes provide an excellent opportunity to streamline the
existing regulations by focusing the notices on situations that have
potential to have serious adverse effects on human health. EPA will
also solicit from the stakeholders existing public notification
programs that work, and seek to share these experiences through our
rulemaking communication. The reports from these meetings will be
presented to the public notification workgroup to define the issues and
to develop options for their resolution.
Cynthia C. Dougherty,
Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.
[FR Doc. 97-21537 Filed 8-13-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
