The Public Notification Rule

Printed on Recycled Paper

United States

Environmental Protection

Agency

Office of Water

(4606)

EPA 816-F-00-023

May 2000

Title

Revisions to the Public Notification Regulations for Public Water Systems (40 CFR Part 141,

subpart Q), published May 4, 2000 (65 FR 25981)

Purpose

To notify the public any time a water system violates national primary drinking water regulations or has other situations posing a risk to public health

Effective Date

Rule is effective June 5, 2000

PWSs in jurisdictions directly implemented by EPA must meet these revised requirements

October 31, 2000

PWSs in primacy states must meet these revised requirements May 6, 2002 or when the

state adopts the revised regulations, whichever is sooner

Applicability

All PWSs violating national primary drinking water regulations, operating under a variance or

exemption, or having other situations posing a risk to public health

Timing and Distribution

Notices must be sent within 24 hours, 30 days, or one year depending on the tier to which the

violation is assigned (see page 2). The clock for notification starts when the PWS learns of the

violation. Notices must be provided to persons served (not just billing customers).

Multilingual Requirements

Where the PWS serves a large proportion of non-English speakers, the PWS must provide

information in the appropriate language(s) on the importance of the notice or on how to get

assistance or a translated copy

A Quick Reference Guide

Highlights

• Revises timing and distribution requirements — notice must be provided within 24 hours

(Tier 1, instead of 72 hours), 30 days (Tier 2, instead of 14 days), or one year (Tier 3, instead

of 90 days), based on the potential severity of the situation

• Expands list of violations and situations requiring immediate notification and broadens

applicability of the public notice to other situations

• Simplifies mandatory health effects language and adds standard language for monitoring

violations and for encouraging notice distribution

• Consolidates public notification requirements previously found in other parts of drinking

water regulations

• Increases primacy agency flexibility

• Amends Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) regulations to conform to changes made in

public notification regulations
Tier 1 (Immediate Notice, Within 24 Hours)

Notice as soon as practical or within 24 hours via radio, TV, hand delivery, posting, or other method specified by primacy agency,

along with other methods if needed to reach persons served. PWSs must also initiate consultation with primacy agency within

24 hours. Primacy agency may establish additional requirements during consultation.

• Fecal coliform violations; failure to test for fecal coliform after initial total coliform sample tests positive

• Nitrate, nitrite, or total nitrate and nitrite MCL violation; failure to take confirmation sample

• Chlorine dioxide MRDL violation in distribution system; failure to take samples in distribution system when required

• Exceedance of maximum allowable turbidity level, if elevated to Tier 1 by primacy agency

• Special notice for non-community water systems (NCWSs) with nitrate exceedances between 10 mg/L and

20 mg/L, where system is allowed to exceed 10 mg/L by primacy agency

• Waterborne disease outbreak or other waterborne emergency

• Other violations or situations determined by the primacy agency

Tier 2 (Notice as Soon as Possible, Within 30 Days)

Notice as soon as practical or within 30 days. Repeat notice every three months until violation is resolved. CWSs: Notice via

mail or direct delivery. NCWSs: Notice via posting, direct delivery, or mail. Primacy agencies may permit alternate methods.

All PWSs must use additional delivery methods reasonably calculated to reach other consumers not notified by the first method.

• All MCL, MRDL, and treatment technique violations, except where Tier 1 notice is required

• Monitoring violations, if elevated to Tier 2 by primacy agency

• Failure to comply with variance and exemption conditions

* Turbidity consultation: Where PWSs have a treatment technique violation resulting from a single exceedance of the

maximum allowable turbidity limit or an MCL violation resulting from an exceedance of the two-day turbidity limit, they must

consult their primacy agency within 24 hours. Primacy agencies will then determine whether a Tier 1 notice is necessary. If

consultation does not occur within 24 hours, violations are automatically elevated to Tier 1.

Tier 3 (Annual Notice)

Notice within 12 months; repeated annually for unresolved violations. Notices for individual violations can be combined into

an annual notice (including the CCR, if public notification requirements can still be met). CWSs: Notice via mail or direct

delivery. NCWSs: Notice via posting, direct delivery, or mail. Primacy agencies may permit alternate methods. All PWSs must

use additional delivery methods reasonably calculated to reach other consumers not notified by the first method.

• Monitoring or testing procedure violations, unless primacy agency elevates to Tier 2

• Operation under a variance and exemption

• Special public notices (fluoride secondary maximum contaminant level (SMCL) exceedance, availability of

unregulated contaminant monitoring results)
Requirements for Ongoing Violations

All new billing units and customers must be notified of

ongoing violations or situations requiring notice

Relationship to the CCR

Where appropriate, the public notification and CCR requirements are consistent:

• Health effects language for MCL, MRDL, and treatment

technique violations are the same

• Multilingual and certification requirements are similar

• CCR may be used for Tier 3 notification, provided public

notification timing, content, and delivery requirements are

met

Reporting and Record Keeping

• PWSs have ten days to send a certification of compliance

and a copy of the completed notice to the primacy agency

• PWS and primacy agency must keep notices on file for

three years

• Primacy agencies must report public notification violations

to EPA on a quarterly basis

Primacy Requirements

• Primacy agencies must submit complete and final requests

for approval of program revisions in order to maintain

primacy for public notification

• Primacy agencies have up to 2 years to adopt the new

regulations

• Primacy agencies must establish enforceable requirements

and procedures if they choose to use any of the flexibilities

allowed them in the public notification regulation (e.g., if they

allow a PWS to use a different notification method or if they

elevate a Tier 2 violation to Tier 1)

Materials Available to Support

This Rule

EPA/ASDWA Public Notification Handbook provides

sample notice templates for water systems and other aids for

water systems preparing notices

Primacy Guidance for the Public Notification Rule

provides guidance and formats for states preparing primacy

program revisions to adopt public notification rule

For More Information

Safe Drinking Water Hotline

1-800-426-4791

Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water Web Site

http://www.epa.gov/safewater/pn.html

Contents of Notice

(see sample notice on last page)

Unless otherwise specified in the regulations,*

each notice must contain:

1) A description of the violation or situation,

including contaminant levels, if applicable

2) When the violation or situation occurred

3) Any potential adverse health effects

(using standard health effects language

from Appendix B of the public notification rule or the standard monitoring

language, see below)

4) The population at risk

5) Whether alternative water supplies

should be used

6) What actions consumers should take

7) What the system is doing to correct the

violation or situation

8) When the water system expects to

return to compliance or resolve the

situation

9) The name, business address, and phone

number of the water system owner or

operator

10) A statement (see below) encouraging

distribution of the notice to others, where

applicable

* These elements do not apply to notices for fluoride

SMCL exceedances, availability of unregulated

contaminant monitoring data, and operation under a

variance or exemption. Content requirements for these

notices are specified in the rule.

Standard Language:

Standard Monitoring Language: We are required to

monitor your drinking water for specific contaminants

on a regular basis. Results of regular monitoring are an

indicator of whether or not our drinking water meets

health standards. During [period] we [did not monitor

or test/did not complete all monitoring or testing] for

[contaminant(s)] and therefore cannot be sure of the

quality of the drinking water during that time.

Standard Distribution Language: Please share this

information with all the people who drink this water,

especially those who may not have received this notice

directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing

homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by

posting this notice in a public place or distributing

copies by hand or mail.
DRINKING WATER WARNING

Springfield water has high levels of nitrate

DO NOT GIVE THE WATER TO INFANTS UNDER

SIX MONTHS OLD OR USE IT TO MAKE INFANT FORMULA

AVISO

NO USE EL AGUA PARA PREPARAR ALIMENTOS PARA BEBES

Este informe contiene información muy importante sobre su agua potable. Hable con alguien

que lo entienda bien o llame al teléfono 555-1200 para hablar en español sobre este aviso.

Water sample results received June 22, 1999 showed nitrate levels of 12 milligrams per liter (mg/l). This is

above the nitrate standard, or maximum contaminant level (MCL), of 10 mg/l. Nitrate in drinking water is a

serious health concern for infants less than six months old.

What should I do?

DO NOT GIVE THE WATER TO INFANTS. Infants below the age of six months who drink water containing nitrate in excess of the MCL could become seriously ill and, if untreated, may die. Symptoms include

shortness of breath and blue baby syndrome. Blue baby syndrome is indicated by blueness of the skin.

Symptoms in infants can develop rapidly, with health deteriorating over a period of days. If symptoms

occur, seek medical attention immediately.

Water, juice, and formula for children under six months of age should not be prepared with tap water.

Bottled water or other water low in nitrates should be used for infants until further notice. Springfield

Water Company and the Springfield Health Department are providing free bottled water to families with

infants. Water is available between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Health Department

office at the Town Hall. Water will be provided until the nitrate problem is resolved.

Do not boil the water. Boiling, freezing, filtering, or letting water stand does not reduce the nitrate level.

Excessive boiling can make the nitrates more concentrated, because nitrates remain behind when the water

evaporates.

Adults and children older than six months can drink the tap water (nitrate is a concern for infants because

they can’t process nitrates in the same way adults can). However, if you are pregnant or have specific

health concerns, you may wish to consult your doctor.

What happened? What is being done?

Nitrate in drinking water can come from natural, industrial, or agricultural sources (including septic systems

and run-off). Levels of nitrate in drinking water can vary throughout the year. We’ll let you know when the

amount of nitrate is again below the limit.

We are investigating water treatment and other options. These may include drilling a new well or mixing

the water with low-nitrate water from another source. We anticipate resolving the problem by July 15.

For more information, please contact John Smith of the Springfield Water Company at (602) 555-1212. This

notice was prepared and distributed by the Springfield Water Company, 500 Main Street, Springfield.

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have

received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do

this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

Sample Public Notice

1 - A

description

of the

violation or

situation

2 - When the

violation or

situation

occurred

3 - Potential

health effects

4 - The

population

at risk

5 - Whether

alternate

water

supplies

should be

used

10 - Standard

distribution

language

9 - Name,

phone

number, and

business

address for

more

information

8 - When the

system

expects to

return to

compliance

7 - What

is being

done to

correct

the

violation

or

situation

6 - Actions

consumers

should take

Information

for Spanish

speakers