Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 48 - PUBLIC HEALTH-GENERAL › Part V - Preventive Health Services › Subpart 25 - Drinking Water › Chapter 77 - Drinking Water Program › Subchapter B - Public Water System Capacity Development › Section V-7717 - Existing Systems

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. Business
					 Plan. All existing public water systems shall be required to submit a shortened
					 and simplified business plan to the department to aid in the department's
					 determination of technical, managerial, and financial capacity. Required
					 information for the business plan will be provided by the department. The
					 department and the concerned parties will revise the content of the business
					 plan, as necessary, to adapt it to the needs of existing system capacity
					 requirements. A grant or a loan from either RUS and/or LCDBG programs will not
					 trigger the requirement for submission of the business plan. Prioritization for
					 the required capacity assessment of existing systems, including submission of
					 the business plan, will be based on whether the existing water system has been
					 issued an administrative order, and/or is on the significant non-compliers
					 list and/or has had primary Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) violations during
					 the past three years. However, the Office of Public Health (OPH) will exempt
					 from the requirement for submission of the business plan all existing public
					 water systems actively seeking funding by the RUS programs, provided those
					 public water systems are certified by RUS as meeting their minimum capacity
					 requirements. Such plan must be submitted to the department within six months
					 after the initial visit by the designated party of the state who is providing
					 assistance to the public water system in preparation of the business
					 plan.
B. Operator Requirements. All
					 such public water systems meeting the population requirements to require a
					 certified operator must have an operator who holds a certificate in the
					 appropriate classes(es) of certification for the population served by the
					 system. The system must have an operator on duty at all times, or the operator
					 must be available to respond and be on-site within an hour of notification. Any
					 such public water system not meeting the population requirements at the time of
					 submission of the business plan must have an operator who has had at least 16
					 hours of operator training which meets the guidelines of the State Committee of
					 Certification, and must have at least 16 hours of continuing training yearly.
					 The system must provide such an operator on duty at all times, or the operator
					 must be available to respond and be on-site within an hour of notification.
					 Such requirement of systems not meeting the population requirements for a
					 certified operator shall remain in effect until such time as the United States
					 Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) requires that all public water systems
					 have certified operators or the state requires same, whichever occurs first. At
					 such time, the then current requirement would be applied.
C. Management Training. As a part of meeting
					 the managerial capacity requirements, all appropriate staff of existing public
					 water systems shall attend a training session provided by the state, its
					 contractors or other state recognized trainers for board members, council
					 members/mayors/owners, etc. Management training for all board members/council
					 members/mayors/owners of existing public water systems will be based on whether
					 their water system has been issued an administrative order, and/or is on the
					 significant non-complier's list and/or has had primary MCL violations during
					 the past three years. The department will continue to encourage attendance on a
					 voluntary basis at management training sessions by board members/council
					 members/mayors/owner' of other public water systems. Training sessions shall be
					 provided periodically and appropriate parties as noted above will have the
					 opportunity to attend one of the scheduled sessions within six months after the
					 system has been notified that is it being evaluated for technical, managerial,
					 and financial capacity.
D.
					 Financial Audit. A financial audit will be conducted on the system as one means
					 of determining financial capacity of the public water system.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
						Promulgated in accordance with
						R.S.
						40:4.