[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 165 (Tuesday, August 26, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45251-45252]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-22665]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5882-9]


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 September 18, 1997 in Washington, D.C. 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 September 18, 1997, from 9:30 a.m. 
to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Time.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Central; 1501 
Rhode Island Ave., N.W.; Washington, D.C. 20005; Phone No.: (800) 248-
0016/(202) 483-2000. 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 Carl Reeverts of EPA's Office of 
Ground Water and Drinking Water at (202) 260-7273. 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.

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; (3) or results 
from unregulated contaminant monitoring required under section 1445 of 
the SDWA are received. This coverage was 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) allow 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 second 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

[[Page 45252]]

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.
William R. Diamond,
Acting Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.
[FR Doc. 97-22665 Filed 8-25-97; 8:45 am]
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