United States

Environmental Protection

Agency

Office of Water

4606

EPA 816-F-99-011

February 2001

Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions 

Fact Sheet for State Primacy Agencies

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 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 7 broad categories:

ì Demonstration of Optimal Corrosion Control

í Monitoring and System Reporting

î Analytical Methods

ï Public Education

ð Lead Service Line Replacement

ñ State Recordkeeping and Reporting

ò Special Primacy Conditions

In this fact sheet, we have identified in each category the revisions that became effective on April 11, 2000 and must be

included in your drinking water regulations for you to maintain primacy. We ask that States submit complete and final

primacy revision applications by October, 2001 to ensure timely primacy revision; however, under the regulations,

applications are due by January 12, 2002. An extension of up to 2 additional years can be requested. We also identify

in each category, provisions that are less stringent than corresponding provisions in the 1991 LCR. You may choose to

adopt all or only a portion of these latter changes and the implementation time frame is also your choice. Some States

may be unable to allow water systems to take advantage of these provisions until they are adopted into State regulations. 

This fact sheet summarizes the minor revisions.

For the actual regulatory 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 State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 2 of 10

ìRevisions to Requirements for Demonstrating 

Optimal Corrosion Control

Revisions Required to Be Implemented Beginning April 11, 2000 

1. A system that has installed corrosion control treatment but is not required to conduct water

quality parameter (WQP) monitoring must continue to:

C Properly operate and maintain corrosion control treatment at all times; and

C Meet any requirements you deem are needed to ensure this treatment is maintained. 

Note: These are not new requirements. They clarify provisions of the 1991 LCR.

2. If prior to December 7, 1992, a system has completed treatment steps that are equivalent to those in the LCR, it 

must:

C Routinely monitor for WQPs after you designate optimal water quality parameters (OWQPs) (unless it serves

# 50,000 people and no longer exceeds an action level); and

C Continue lead and copper tap sampling. 

Note: These are not new requirements. They clarify provisions of the 1991 LCR.

3. A system that demonstrates that the difference between the 90th percentile lead level at the tap and the highest

concentration of lead in its source water is < 0.005 mg/L for two, consecutive 6-month periods (also known as a

(b)(3) system), must:

C Collect a round of lead and copper tap samples between October 1, 1997 and September 30, 2000 at the

reduced number of sites and continue monitoring every 3 years thereafter;

C Not exceed the copper action level after July 12, 2001; and

C Begin corrosion control treatment steps if during any round of monitoring:

Î the difference between its 90th lead and source water levels is 0.005 mg/L or more, (and it serves more

than 50,000 people); or 

Ï the system is above the lead action level (any size system); or

Ð the system is above the copper action level on or after July 12, 2001 (any size system). 

Note: Those systems, serving more than 50,000 people, that are triggered into corrosion control

treatment steps (for one of the 3 reasons listed above) must follow the corrosion control

treatment schedule for medium-size systems outlined in §141.81(e), beginning with the

requirement to complete a corrosion control study. These systems must complete this study

within 18 months of the date they were triggered into the corrosion control treatment

requirements.
Fact Sheet for State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 3 of 10

Revisions that You May Not Be Able to Implement Unless You Adopt Them

Definition of a (b)(3) system

If a system's source water lead levels are below the Method Detection Limit and its 90th percentile lead level

is # 0.005 mg/L, you can deem the system to be optimized under §141.81(b)(3) (also known as a (b)(3)

system). This system would then be subject to the requirements for (b)(3) systems that are discussed on page

2 of this fact sheet.

Changes in the Procedures for Assessing Compliance with OWQPs

C Compliance determinations are always based on a 6-month period, regardless of the system's

monitoring schedule (e.g., daily, biweekly, semi-annually, annually, triennially) or whether the sample

is from an entry point or tap.

C Daily values are calculated for each WQP at each sampling location and are based on the sampling

frequency for that WQP and sampling point. Daily values are calculated even if no sampling has

occurred during the 6-month monitoring period being evaluated.

C An excursion is any “daily value” for a WQP that is below the minimum value or outside the range of

OWQPs that you have established for the system.

C Confirmation samples are no longer used. Systems must report the results of all samples collected

during the 6-month period.

C Systems that have excursions for more than a total of 9 days during a 6-month period are in violation of

their OWQP requirements. The 9 days do not need to occur on consecutive days. 

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 State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 4 of 10

í Revisions to Monitoring and Reporting Requirements

Revisions Required to Be Implemented Beginning April 11, 2000

1. A non-transient non-community water system (NTNCWS) or a community water system

(CWS) that does not have enough Tier 1, 2, or 3 sites, must use representative sites to

complete its sampling pool. A representative site is one that uses plumbing materials commonly found at other

sites to which the system provides water.

2. A system on reduced lead and copper tap monitoring must collect from sites that are representative of the ones it

has used during standard monitoring.

Note: You can specify where the system must collect these samples.

3. A system on reduced lead and copper tap monitoring must notify you in writing within 60 days of changing its

treatment or adding a new source. This requirement also includes:

< (b)(3) systems, or 

< systems that have been granted a lead and copper tap 9-year monitoring waiver. 

Note: You can require these systems to provide earlier notification or to undertake additional

steps to ensure optimal corrosion control treatment is maintained.

4. A system that composites source water samples, must resample if the composite sample is $ 0.001 mg/L for lead

and/or $ 0.160 mg/L for copper.

Revisions that You May Not Be Able to Implement Unless You Adopt Them

Monitoring Flexibility and Reduced Monitoring

1. You may designate months other than June-September in which a system must conduct reduced lead and

copper monitoring. This alternate period cannot be longer than 4 consecutive months and must represent a

time of normal operation. For a CWS, this alternate period must occur when its lead levels are likely to be

highest.

2. You can allow an NTNCWS or a CWS that operates 24 hours a day, such as a prison or hospital, that does not

have enough taps that can supply first-draw lead and copper samples, to collect samples from taps with the

longest standing times, if:

< it collects at least the minimum number of required samples; and

< it identifies standing times and locations for any non-first-draw sample.

 

Note: You can require a system to receive prior approval of its sampling plan or

review the plan when the system submits its monitoring results.
Fact Sheet for State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 5 of 10

Monitoring Flexibility and Reduced Monitoring (continued)

3. A system can conduct lead and copper tap monitoring once every 3 years without conducting interim rounds of

annual monitoring if its 90th percentile lead and copper levels are # 0.005 mg/l and # 0.65 mg/l, respectively,

for two consecutive 6-month monitoring periods. (This monitoring is also referred to as accelerated reduced

lead and copper tap monitoring.)

4. You can grant a 9-year monitoring waiver for lead and/or copper tap monitoring to a system if:

< it serves 3,300 or fewer people;

< its 90th percentile lead levels are # 0.005 mg/L and/or its 90th percentile copper levels are # 0.65 mg/L;

and

< it meets plumbing materials criteria that demonstrate the risk from lead and/or copper exposure is

negligible.

You must notify the system of your waiver determination in writing, and include the basis of your decision and

any conditions for granting the waiver.

For more information on monitoring waivers, refer to:

Monitoring Waivers under The Lead and Copper Rule Minor

Revisions for Systems Serving 3,300 or Fewer People, April 2000,

EPA 815-R-99-021.

5. You can invalidate a lead and copper tap water sample if it meets at least one of the sample invalidation

criteria below and the system provides supporting documentation:

< there is laboratory error;

< you determine that the sample was taken from an inappropriate site;

< the sample was damaged in transit; and/or

< you believe the sample was subject to tampering.

Note: You must document your sample invalidation decision and rationale in writing. A

system must collect replacement samples, if after the invalidation, it has too few samples

to meet the minimum sampling requirements. Replacement samples must be taken at the

same locations as the invalidated samples, or if that is not possible, at locations other

than those already used for sampling during the monitoring period.

6. A ground water system may limit biweekly WQP entry point monitoring to representative locations if it can

demonstrate that these sites are representative of water quality conditions throughout its system.

7. A system may proceed to triennial WQP tap monitoring without conducting the interim rounds of more

frequent monitoring if it is also eligible for accelerated reduced lead and copper tap water monitoring and it

meets its OWQPs for two consecutive monitoring periods.

8. A system that exceeds an action level may conduct source water monitoring on a reduced schedule if you have

determined that source water treatment is unnecessary and the system's source water lead levels are # 0.005

mg/L and source water copper levels are # 0.65 mg/L.
Fact Sheet for State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 6 of 10

System Reporting Requirements

A system may no longer be required to:

1. Calculate and report its 90th percentile lead and copper levels if:

< you have previously notified the system that you will perform this calculation; 

< the system has provided its sampling results and sampling site information to you by the date

you have specified (before the end of the monitoring period); and

< you have provided the system with the results of the 90th percentile calculation before the end

of the monitoring period.

Note: You must allow yourself sufficient time to calculate the 90th percentile levels and report

them to the system before the end of the monitoring period. This will allow the system to

take any timely follow-up action in the event of an exceedance, such as WQP monitoring.

2. Submit certifications that samples were collected using proper sampling procedures.

3. Provide justifications if its sampling pool contains Tier 2 or 3 sites or an insufficient number of

sites served by LSLs.

4. Submit a written request for permission to monitor for lead and copper on a reduced schedule

after it meets its OWQPs. However, you still must provide written approval to the system before

it can begin reduced monitoring.

ÚRevisions to Analytical Methods for Lead and Copper

Revisions that You May Not Be Able to Implement Unless You Adopt Them

1. The laboratory can decrease the time lead or copper samples must remain in their original

container after acidification and before the samples can be analyzed from 28 hours to 16 hours.

2. Laboratory certification procedures may be changed to conform with changes in the resampling

triggers for composite source water samples.
Fact Sheet for State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 7 of 10

ÛRevisions to Public Education Requirements

Revisions Required to Be Implemented Beginning April 11, 2000

Systems must report compliance with their public education requirements within 10 days after

each period in which these tasks were required. This means that systems that are required to

deliver public service announcements every 6 months, must submit two letters per year. 

Note: You can allow a system to omit resubmitting the list of people and facilities to

which it provided public education materials if it certifies that this distribution list

has not changed from the previous list it provided to you.

Revisions that You May Not Be Able to Implement Unless You Adopt Them

Mandatory Public Education Language

1. You can allow systems to delete references to LSLs in their public education materials if they have no LSLs.

2. You can allow CWSs to modify public education language regarding building permit availability and consumer

access to these records, if those documents are not available.

3. You can allow NTNCWS to use alternative mandatory public education language that is more suited to their

type of system. You can also allow special-case CWSs to use the alternative mandatory public education

language provided for NTNCWSs. 

Definition: A special-case CWS is a system, such as a prison or hospital, whose residents cannot make their

own plumbing improvements and are not billed separately for water.

Distribution of Public Education Materials

1. A CWS that serves 3,300 or fewer people can:

C Omit the requirement to provide public service announcements to radio and TV stations.

C Omit newspaper notification. (CWSs serving 501-3,300 people must have your prior approval.)

C Limit distribution of pamphlets to facilities serving primarily pregnant women and children, unless you

require a broader distribution. (CWSs serving 501-3,300 people must have your prior approval.)

2. CWSs can mail public education materials separately from their bill.

3. NTNCWS 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.

4. You can allow special-case CWSs to use the NTNCWS public education delivery requirements.
Fact Sheet for State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 8 of 10

ÜLead Service Line Replacement Requirements

Revisions Required to Be Implemented Beginning April 11, 2000

1. A system that is required to replace LSLs must:

C Replace the part of the LSL that it owns and keep records that document what portions

of all LSLs it owns; and

C Make an offer to the property owner to replace the privately-owned portion of the LSL.

2. A system that does not replace the entire LSL up to the building inlet (i.e., partial replacement), must do all of

the following:

C 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. 

Note: You can allow a shorter notification period if replacement is done

in conjunction with emergency repairs.

C Collect at the system's expense a post-replacement sample that is representative of the lead content of water

in the service line within 72 hours of completing the partial LSL replacement.

C Notify residents of analytical results by mail or posting within 3 business days of receiving the results.

C Submit to you, the results of LSL samples following partial LSL replacement. You can eliminate the

requirement to report these sample results and/or require other information.

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 State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 9 of 10

ÝState Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements

State Reporting Requirements

The LCRMR require you to report the following information to EPA:

C All 90th percentile lead levels for large and medium systems, and those 90th percentile lead levels above the

action level for small systems;

C All 90th percentile levels above the copper action level for all system sizes;

C A more streamlined LSL replacement milestone;

C A milestone which indicates that a system has been deemed to optimize corrosion control; and

C A milestone which indicates that a system has completed all necessary and applicable treatment steps (i.e.,

optimization of corrosion control, source water treatment, LSL replacement).

The LCRMR specify the schedule for implementing the new reporting requirements.

C You have the option of continuing to report the old LCR requirements until January 11, 2002.

C You must only report in accordance with the new LCRMR requirements by January 12, 2002.

State Recordkeeping Requirements

The LCRMR add recordkeeping requirements that correspond to new decisions that you make pertaining to.

C Additional actions required to maintain optimal corrosion control by systems on reduced lead and copper tap

monitoring that change treatment or add a new source of water;

C Content of written public education materials and/or the distribution of these materials;

C Use of non-first draw samples at systems that operate 24 hours a day;

C Sampling locations for systems subject to reduced monitoring;

C Alternative sample collection periods for systems subject to reduced monitoring;

C Small system monitoring waivers, waiver recertifications, and waiver revocations; 

C Representative entry point locations at ground water systems;

C Submission of information to demonstrate partial LSL replacement compliance; and

C Resubmission of detailed documentation demonstrating completion of public education requirements.
Fact Sheet for State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 10 of 10

ÞSpecial Primacy Conditions

The LCRMR add three new primacy considerations.

C You must specify how you will determine compliance with OWQPs when multiple samples are collected per

day at the same sampling location, if you choose to use a method other than averaging.

C You must specify how you will verify the completion of partial LSL replacement activities.

C If you plan to designate an alternative reduced lead and copper tap monitoring period for CWSs (one other

than June - September), you must indicate how you will determine an alternate period that represents a time

of normal operation when lead levels are likely to be their highest.