United States

Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Water

4606

EPA 816-F-00-008

February 2001

Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions 

Fact Sheet for Public Water Systems that Serve

3,301 to 50,000 Persons

We (the EPA) have made minor changes to the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR)

that was first published in 1991. These Lead and Copper Rule Minor

Revisions (LCRMR) took effect on April 11, 2000. The LCRMR do not

change the action levels of 0.015 milligrams per liter (mg/L) for lead and 1.3

mg/L for copper. They also do not affect the Rule's basic requirements to

optimize corrosion control and, if appropriate, treat source water, deliver public

education, and replace lead service lines. In many cases, the revisions reduce

your monitoring, reporting, public education, and other requirements.

What Are the Changes to the Lead and Copper Rule?

The minor revisions to the LCR can be organized into four broad categories:

ì Demonstrating optimal corrosion control

í Monitoring and reporting

î Public education

ï Lead service line replacement

In this fact sheet, we have identified for each category: 1) the revisions that you were required to begin

complying with by April 11, 2000, and 2) the revisions that you cannot implement unless and until they are

adopted by your State and incorporated into your State’s drinking water regulations. Check with your State

Primacy Agency to determine when and if provisions that depend on State adoption will take effect in

your State.

This fact sheet summarizes your requirements. 

For the exact detailed requirements, refer to:

Federal Register, Vol. 65, No. 8. Drinking Water Regulations;

Maximum Contaminant Level Goals and National Primary

Drinking Water Regulations for Lead and Copper; Final Rule;

(Wed., Jan 12, 2000)
Fact Sheet for Medium-Sized Water Systems: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 2 of 9

ìRevisions to Requirements for 

 Demonstrating Optimal 

 Corrosion Control

You Were Required to Comply with

These Requirements Beginning April 11, 2000

If you have installed corrosion control treatment but are not required to conduct water quality parameter (WQP)

monitoring, you must continue to properly operate and maintain corrosion control treatment at all times.

Revisions That Depend on State Adoption

Determining Whether You Comply with Your Optimal Water Quality Parameters (OWQPs)

Daily values are not used to determine compliance. “Daily values” are now used to determine compliance.

Daily values are the sample results for each WQP and are

calculated for each WQP at each sampling location. They

are based on the sampling frequency for that WQP and

sampling point.

You are out of compliance if at any time the results of

any WQP sample are below the minimum value or

outside the range of values designated by the State.

You are only out of compliance if you have an

“excursion” for more than a total of 9 days during a 6-

month period. An excursion is any “daily value” for a

WQP that is below the minimum value or outside the

range of OWQPs set by the State. 

Compliance determinations are always based on 6-month

periods, regardless of your monitoring schedule (e.g.,

daily, biweekly, semi-annually, annually, triennially) or

whether the sample is from an entry point or tap.

You can collect a confirmation sample within 3 days of

the original sample. If you collect a confirmation sample,

the results of the original sample and the confirmation

sample are averaged to determine compliance. 

Confirmation samples are no longer used. You must

report the results of all samples collected during the 6-

month period.

For more information on this new OWQP compliance

procedure, refer to:

How to Determine Compliance with Optimal Water Quality Parameters as

Revised by the Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions, February 2001,

EPA 815-R-99-019.
Fact Sheet for Medium-Sized Water Systems: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 3 of 9

íRevisions to Monitoring and 

 Reporting Requirements

You Were Required to Comply with

These Requirements Beginning April 11, 2000

The LCR is unclear that if you do not have enough "highrisk" sites (i.e., Tier 1, 2, or 3 sites) that you are still

required to collect the minimum number of tap samples.

If you do not have enough Tier 1, 2, or 3 sites, you must

use representative sites to meet minimum sampling

requirements. A site is representative if its plumbing is

similar to that of other sites in your system.

The LCR does not specify which sites to use for reduced

lead and copper tap monitoring.

If you are on reduced lead and copper tap monitoring (i.e.,

monitor less frequently than every 6 months), you must

collect from sites that are representative of the ones you

used during standard monitoring. (Your State may specify

where to collect these samples.)

The LCR does not require you to notify your State if you

change your treatment or add a new source.

If you are on reduced lead and copper tap monitoring, you

must notify your State in writing no later than 60 days

after changing treatment or adding a new source. 

Revisions That Depend on State Adoption

Monitoring Requirements

You are required to conduct reduced lead and copper

monitoring only during the months of June through

September.

Your State may allow you to conduct reduced lead and

copper monitoring during months other than June through

September.

You are required to collect first-draw lead and copper

samples, regardless of whether you have enough taps that

could supply first-draw samples.

If you are a system that operates 24 hours a day and you do

not have enough taps that can supply first-draw lead and

copper samples, you may collect samples from the taps

that have the longest standing times.

You are required to conduct 3 consecutive years of lead

and copper tap monitoring before reducing your

monitoring frequency to once every 3 years (triennial).

You can conduct lead and copper tap water monitoring

once every 3 years after monitoring for only 2 consecutive,

6-month monitoring periods, if your 90th percentile levels

are # 0.005 mg/L for lead and # 0.65 mg/L for copper.

(This is also known as accelerated reduced tap

monitoring).

Before being allowed to conduct triennial WQP tap

monitoring, you must be in compliance with your OWQPs

for at least 6 consecutive years.

You can proceed to triennial WQP tap monitoring if you

also qualify for accelerated reduced lead and copper tap

water monitoring and are in compliance with your OWQPs

for 2 consecutive monitoring periods.
Revisions That Depend on State Adoption

Fact Sheet for Medium-Sized Water Systems: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 4 of 9

Monitoring Requirements (continued)

Sample invalidation is not allowed. You can ask your State to invalidate lead and copper tap

water samples if the samples meet at least one of the

criteria below and you provide documentation that

supports your request:

• There is a laboratory error;

• The sample was damaged in transit;

• The State determines that the sample was taken from

an inappropriate site; and/or

• The State believes the sample was tampered with.

Note: If you do not have enough valid samples after the

State invalidates your sample(s), you must collect enough

replacement samples to meet the minimum sampling

requirements.

You are required to collect WQP samples at all of your

entry points.

You may limit biweekly WQP entry point monitoring to

representative locations if:

C you are a ground water system; and

C you can demonstrate that these sites are representative

of your system's water quality conditions.

If you exceed an action level but are not required to install

source water treatment, you are not allowed to reduce the

frequency with which you collect source water samples.

You may conduct source water monitoring on a reduced

schedule even though you exceed an action level, if:

C your source water levels are # 0.005 mg/L for lead

and # 0.65 mg/L for copper; and

C source water treatment is not required.

Reporting Revisions That Depend on State Adoption

1. You may no longer be required to calculate and report your 90th percentile lead and copper levels if:

C your State has notified you that it will perform this calculation;

C you provided your sampling results and sampling site information to your State no later than the date specified by

your State (Note: this date will be sometime before the end of the monitoring period); and

C your State gave you the results of the 90th percentile calculation before the end of the monitoring period.

2. You are no longer required to submit certifications that you followed proper sampling procedures or that

homeowners collected samples after receiving proper instructions.

3. You are no longer required to provide justifications if your sampling pool contains Tier 2 or Tier 3 sites or an

insufficient number of sites served by lead service lines (LSLs).

4. You are no longer required to request in writing your State’s permission to monitor for lead and copper on a reduced

schedule after you meet your OWQPs. (You still must receive written approval from your State before you begin

reduced monitoring.)
Fact Sheet for Medium-Sized Water Systems: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 5 of 9

î Revisions to Public Education 

Requirements

You Were Required to Comply with

These Requirements Beginning April 11, 2000

You are required to submit a letter to the State

demonstrating that you met your public education

requirements. This letter is due by December 31 of the

year in which you performed public education. 

You must submit a letter to the State demonstrating that

you met your public education requirements within 10

days after each period in which these tasks were required.

This means that if you are required to deliver public

service announcements (PSAs) every 6 months, you must

submit two letters per year.

Revisions That Depend on State Adoption

Mandatory Public Education Language

You are required to include information about LSLs, even

if your system has no LSLs.

You can delete references to LSLs in your public

education materials if you have no LSLs and you obtain

approval from your State.

You are not allowed to modify language regarding the

availability of building permits and consumer access to

these records.

If you are a community water system (CWS), you can

modify public education language regarding building

permit availability and consumer access to these records, if

those documents are not available. You must have

permission from your State to modify this language.

All CWSs and non-transient, non-community water

systems (NTNCWSs) are required to use the same

language provided by EPA.

If you are a NTNCWS, you may use alternative mandatory

public education language that is more suited to your type

of system. 

If you are a certain type of CWS, such as a prison or

hospital, whose residents cannot make their own plumbing

improvements and are not billed separately for water, you

can use the alternative mandatory public education

language provided for NTNCWSs. (Your State may

require you to obtain approval.)
Revisions That Depend on State Adoption

Fact Sheet for Medium-Sized Water Systems: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 6 of 9

Distribution of Public Education Materials

If you are a CWS, you must enclose public education

materials in your customers’ regular water bills.

If you are a CWS, you can mail public education materials

separately from your bill.

If you are a NTNCWS, you can only post information and

distribute pamphlets; you cannot use e-mail to distribute

public education information.

If you are a NTNCWS, you can use internal e-mail

systems instead of using printed materials to distribute

public education materials, as long as this achieves at least

the same coverage.

All CWSs are required to:

C Insert notices in the water bill;

C Submit information to newspapers;

C Distribute pamphlets; and

C Broadcast information via TV and radio.

If you are a certain type of CWS, such as a prison or

hospital, whose residents cannot make their own plumbing

improvements and are not billed separately for water, you

can follow the NTNCWS public education delivery

requirements. (Your State may require you to obtain

approval.)
Fact Sheet for Medium-Sized Water Systems: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 7 of 9

ï Revisions to Lead Service Line 

Replacement

Requirements

You Were Required to Comply with

These Requirements Beginning April 11, 2000

The following table shows how the LCRMR have changed your requirements if you do not own the entire LSL and you

only replace that portion of the LSL that you own (also known as partial LSL replacement). Unless prohibited by local or

State law, the LCRMR still require you to offer to replace the building owner's portion of the line at his/her expense.

There is no specific required deadline to provide

notification of partial replacement.

You must notify residents at least 45 days before partial

replacement that lead levels may increase temporarily

following the replacement and provide guidance on the

measures they can take to minimize exposure to lead. If

your line replacement is in conjunction with emergency

repairs, however, your State may allow a shorter time

frame for this notification.

For each resident served by a partially replaced line, you

must offer to collect and analyze a first-flush tap sample,

after you complete the partial replacement. This sample is

collected at the tap of each resident that accepts your offer.

You must collect at your expense one representative

service line sample for each replaced LSL within 72 hours

of removing the line. You are not required to collect

samples for each affected resident.

If resident(s) accept your offer, you must collect the

sample(s) and report results to the resident(s) within 14

days following the partial line replacement.

You must collect the sample within 72 hours of

completing the partial replacement and report the results

within 3 business days of receiving the results.

You must report the sample results to residents.

You are not required to report any information to your

State that demonstrates that you met your partial LSL

requirements.

You must report sample results to the building owner(s)

and the resident(s) served by the partially replaced line.

You also must submit these monitoring results to the State

within the first 10 days of the month following that in

which you receive the results. However, the LCRMR give

States the option to modify reporting requirements, so you

need to check with your State to be sure of your specific

requirements.

The LCR does not specify how to notify users about the

partial replacement or the post-replacement sample results.

You must notify residents by mail. However, for multifamily dwellings you can post the notification in a

conspicuous common-use area of the building.

For more information on partial lead service line

notification and reporting requirements, refer to:

Notification and Reporting Requirements for Partial Lead Service

Line Replacement under the Lead and Copper Rule, April 2000, EPA

815-R-99-022.
Fact Sheet for Medium-Sized Water Systems: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 8 of 9

Where Can I Obtain More Information About the LCRMR?

k State or EPA Regional Office k

You can contact the EPA Region responsible for implementing the Safe Drinking

Water Act for your systems. A list of contacts in each EPA Regional office is

provided on the next page.

N Other Guidance Documents N

Lead and Copper Rule: Summary of Revisions, April 2000, EPA 815-R-99-020. This

document helps you understand when you must begin complying with the new

requirements of the LCRMR. This guidance contains a discussion of each of the important

changes made to the 1991 Rule by the LCRMR by major rule section (i.e., §141.81,

§141.82, §§141.84-141.90, and §141.43), and identifies when you must begin complying

with the new requirements. It also contains an appendix which compares the rule language

of the LCR against the minor revisions. 

You can obtain any of the guidance documents listed in this fact sheet from the Safe

Drinking Water Hotline, the Water Resource Center (202-260-7786 or e-mail at

center.water resource@epa.gov), or the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water web

page at www.epa.gov/safewater/standards.html.

G Safe Drinking Water Hotline G

You can call the SAFE DRINKING WATER HOTLINE at 1-800-426-4791. It is open

Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., ET, excluding Federal holidays. The Hotline

can provide you with a list of other documents that pertain to the LCR and to the minor

revisions.
Fact Sheet for Medium-Sized Water Systems: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 9 of 9

EPA Regional Offices

EPA Region 1

Associate Director for Drinking Water

Policy

One Congress Street

Suite 1100

Boston, MA 02114-2023

(617) 918-1571

Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire,

Rhode Island, Vermont

EPA Region 6

Source Water

Protection Branch

1445 Ross Avenue

Dallas, TX 75202

(214) 665-7150

Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, 

Texas

EPA Region 2

Water Programs Branch

290 Broadway

New York, NY 10007-1866

(212) 637-3826

New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands

EPA Region 7

Drinking Water Branch

901 N. 5th Street

Kansas City, KS 66101

(913) 551-7032

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska

EPA Region 3

Drinking Water Branch

1650 Arch Street

Philadelphia, PA 19103-2029

(800) 438-2474 (Customer Service Hotline)

Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 

West Virginia, District of Columbia

EPA Region 8

Municipal Systems Unit

999 18th Street

Denver, CO 80202

(303) 312-7021

Colorado, Montana,

North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming

EPA Region 4

Ground Water/Drinking Water Branch

61 Forsyth Street, S.W.

Atlanta, GA 30303-3415

(404) 562-9424

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi,

North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee

EPA Region 9

Drinking Water Office

75 Hawthorne Street

San Francisco, CA 94105

(415) 744-1843

Arizona, California, Hawaii,

Nevada, American Samoa, Guam,

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana

Islands

EPA Region 5

Safe Drinking Water Branch

77 West Jackson Boulevard

Chicago, IL 60604

(800) 621-8431

Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio,

Wisconsin

EPA Region 10

Drinking Water Unit

1200 Sixth Avenue

Seattle, WA 98101

(206) 553-1890

Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington