EPA 815

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## Announcement of Proposed Rule: Revisions to the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulation (UCMR) for Public Water Systems

Summary EPA pr oposes the design for the third Unregulated Contaminant Mon itoring Regulation (UCM R 3)

. This design includes monitoring for 28 chemicals and two viruses, for a total of 30 UCMR 3 contaminants using seven EPA analytical methods and /or four equivalent consensus organization

- developed methods

.
Backgr ound T he 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDW A) require that EPA identify a new list of unregulated drinking water contaminants every five years. This list must not exceed 30 contaminants for public water system (PWS) monitoring . The data set collected through UCMR informs EPA on the occurrence and public exposure to support determinations of whether to establish a health based stan dard to protect public health. The first Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulation (UCMR 1) was published on Sep tember 17, 1999, and the second (UCMR 2) was published on January 4, 2007. EPA anticipates that the final UCMR 3 will be published in early 2012.

About this r egulation As proposed, UCMR 3 revises the previous rule (UCMR 2) as follows:

**•** id entifies a new list of c ontaminants to be monitored;

**•** lists the analytical methods to be used;

**•** specifies the number of systems required to monitor and where they are required to monitor ( e.g., entry point to the distribution system and, for some contaminan ts
, in the distribution system); and

**•** makes minor modifications t o the requirements based on previous experience implementing UCMR 1 and UCMR 2.

All PWSs serving more than 10,000 people (i.e., large systems) and 800 representative PWSs serving 10,000 or fewer people (i.e., small systems) would monitor for the chemicals from 2013 through 2015

. A representative selection of 800 undisinfected ground water PWSs serving 1,000 or fewer people would monitor for the viruses from 2013 through 2015.

PWSs that monitor for chemicals would sample at their entry point to the distribution system (EPTDS). Additionally, monitoring for chlorate and the four metals

– co balt, molybdenum, vanadium and strontium

– would take place at one distribution system sampling point per treatment plant . EPA contractors would collect samples at each EPTDS location for PWSs selected for virus monitoring due to the complexity of the sampling techniques

. Virus monitoring also includes the following pathogen indicators: total coliform, E. coli , bacteriophage,
Enterococci and aerobic spores.EPA 815

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- 004 Page 2 of 4 PWSs with surface water or “ground water under the direct influence of surface water” would monitor four times during the ir year of monitorin g. PWSs with gro und water would monitor twice during the ir year of monitoring.

How did EPA select these contaminants? EPA identified and selected t he contaminants for UCMR 3 th rough a prioritization process. The Agency first reviewed the Contaminant Candidate List (CCL 3) and the “pre

- CCL

. ” Under the CCL 3 process, EPA evaluate d 7,500 unregulated contaminants in the development of the final CCL 3. T he final CCL 3 is comprised of 104 chemicals or chemical groups

, and 12 microbiological contaminants . This list outlines unregulated contaminants with the greatest potential to occur at PWSs

, and which may require regulation due to the pote ntial f or human health concerns.

EPA then reviewed additional sources of information about emerging contaminants of concern, and expanded the list to approximately 150 potential UCMR 3 contaminants. That list of 150 contaminants was then narrowed by eliminating c ontaminants for which analytical me thods would not be ready in time for UCMR 3 monitoring

. An EPA and s tate working group further considered this narrowed list and used health effects data and information regarding other critical endpoints to arrive at the proposed list of 30 UCMR 3 analyte s described in Exhibit 1

. The proposed rule also invites public comment on whether hex avalen t chromium (“chromium

- 6”)

- and possibly total chromium

- should be included in UCMR 3 in lieu of any of the 30 contaminants in Exhibit 1.EPA 815

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### Exhibit 1: Proposed Con taminants

Chemical Monitoring

17

- β

- estradiol chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC

- 22)

17

- α

- ethynylestradiol (ethinyl estradiol) bromochloromethane (Halon 1011)

estriol 1,4

- dioxane

equilin vanadium

estrone molybdenum

testosterone cobalt

4

- androstene

- 3,17

- dione strontium

1,2,3

- trichloropropane chlorate

1,3

- butadiene perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS)

chloromethane (methyl chloride) perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)

1,1

- dichloroethane perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA)

n

- propylbenzene perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS)

bromomethane (methyl bromide) perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA)

sec

- butylbenzene perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS)

Virus Monitoring

enteroviruses noroviruses

What are the major differences between UCMR 2 and 3 ? In addition to the new list of 30 contaminants to be monitored, proposed changes between UCMR 2 and UCMR 3 include the following : revising monitoring requirements (which would be now based on retail population ) ; revising reporting schedule s ; revising da ta elements to be reported; and adding Pre

- Screen Testing for two viruses.

What a re the e nvironmental and p ublic h ealth b enefits? The UCMR 3 program provid es EPA and other interested parties with scientific data on the occurrence of targeted contaminants in drinking water

, the number of people potentially being exposed

, and an estimate of the levels of that exposure. UCMR information is the primary source of occurrence and exposure data for the Agency to determine whether to regulate these

con taminants.EPA 815

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- 004 Page 4 of 4 What is the c ost of the r egulation?
Non

- labor costs would be incurred primarily by EPA and large PWSs. They include the cost of shipping samples to laborator ies, and the cost of laboratory analyses. The cost of the analyses for chemical monito ring is estimated at $ 1,320 per sample set. The cost of the analyses for virus monitoring is estimated at $1,650 per sample set. Labo ratory analysis and sample shipping account for approximately 8 6 percent of the national cost for UCMR 3 implementation.

PWSs, s tates and EPA would also have labor costs

. Other labor costs for PWSs, s tates and EPA include: activities such as notifying PWSs selected to participate, collecting samples, reviewi ng data, reporting, and keeping records. EPA expects that s tates would only incur labor costs associated with their voluntary assistance with UCMR 3 implementation. Since s tate participation is voluntary, the level s of effort and labor costs would vary dep ending on each

s tate’s agreement with EPA. State costs for UCMR 3 were estimated using the State Resource Model that was developed by the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators in conjunction with EPA. For the model estimates of state costs, th e levels of state participation in UCMR 3 were input as the same levels observed in UCMR 2.

T he average annual costs for small water systems complying with this rule are minimal

. EPA specifically structured the rule to avoid significantly affecting small entities by assuming all costs for laboratory analyses, shipping, and quali ty control for small entities. Small systems monitoring for chemicals would only incur labor costs, which are attributed to the additional labor required for reading about their req uirements, monitoring, reporting, and record keeping. Small systems monitoring for viruses would incur even lower labor costs since EPA contractors will collect the sa mples, and record and report the data.

EPA estimates that nationwide, the average annu al cost of UCMR 3, across the five

- year cycle of 2012

- 2016, is approximately $1 5 million

.

How c an I g et a dditional i nformation?
F or general information on UCMR 3 , please visit the UCMR 3 w eb site at: http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/ucmr/ucmr3/index.cfm or c ontact the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at ( 800 ) 426

- 4791 ( open Monday

- Friday, excluding legal holidays, from 10:00 a.m. to 4 :00 p.m. E astern T ime )

. The Safe Drinking Water Hotline may also be found on the Internet at: http://water.epa.gov/aboutow/ogwdw/hotline/index.cfm

.