[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 207 (Thursday, October 24, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55148-55149]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-27309]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-5639-7]


EPA's Drinking Water Contaminant Identification Method

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Announcement of a stakeholder meeting on the drinking water 
contaminant identification method.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has scheduled a 
two-day public meeting on EPA's development of a Drinking Water 
Contaminant Identification Method. The purpose of this meeting is to 
have a dialogue with stakeholders and the public at large on the 
process for developing a sound and defensible method to identify 
contaminants for drinking water regulations, health advisories, 
toxicity research, and monitoring. The upcoming meeting is a 
continuation of a series of meetings with stakeholders that started in 
1995 to obtain input on the Agency's Drinking Water Program. These 
meetings were initiated as part of the Drinking Water Program 
Redirection efforts to help refocus EPA's drinking water priorities and 
to take a risk-based approach in the allocation of program resources. 
Thus, the Agency seeks to ensure that the highest priority chemicals 
are targeted for public health protection. In recent months, EPA has 
been working on a Conceptual Approach for drinking water contaminant 
identification. At the upcoming meeting, EPA is seeking input from 
individual stakeholders with different perspectives on the process for 
the development and implementation of the Contaminant Identification 
Method and on the Conceptual Approach for contaminant identification. 
EPA encourages the full participation of stakeholders throughout this 
process.

DATES: The stakeholder meeting on the Drinking Water Contaminant 
Identification Method will be held on December 2-3, 1996 from 8:00 a.m. 
to 5:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: Resolve, Inc. (an EPA contractor) will provide logistical 
support for the stakeholders meeting. The meeting will be held in the 
greater Washington, D.C. area. Meeting registrants will be provided 
information on the location prior to the meeting. For additional 
information, please contact Ms. Lee Langstaff, at Resolve, Inc., at 
phone: (202) 965-6210 or fax: (202) 338-1264.
    Members of the public wishing to attend the meeting may register by 
phone by contacting Ms. Langstaff by November 15, 1996. Those 
registered for the meeting will receive background materials prior to 
the meeting.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information about the 
meeting logistics, please contact Ms. Lee Langstaff at Resolve, Inc., 
2828 Pennsylvania Avenue (Suite 402), N.W., Washington, D.C. 20007; 
(phone: 202-965-6210); (fax: 202-338-1264).
    For other information on the Drinking Water Contaminant 
Identification Method, please contact Ms. Evelyn Washington, at the 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Phone: 202-260-3029, Fax: 202-
260-3762.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background on the Drinking Water Contaminant Identification 
Method

    The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) amendments of 1986 required the 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to publish a triennial list 
of contaminants (``Drinking Water Priority List'' or DWPL) which may 
require regulation under the Act. In response to the 1986 amendments, 
EPA published two DWPLs which were to serve as ``candidate 
contaminants'' for regulation. The first DWPL was published on January 
22, 1988 (53 FR 1892) and consisted of 53 contaminants/contaminant 
groups. A second DWPL was published on January 14, 1991 (56 FR 1470). 
The second list carried over most of the contaminants from the first 
list (50 substances) and added 27 new substances. The referenced 
Federal Register notices describe the sources of information used for 
the identification of contaminants for inclusion in the two Drinking 
Water Priority Lists.
    The SDWA, as amended in 1996, continues to require EPA to publish a 
list of unregulated contaminants which are known or anticipated to 
occur in public water systems and which may require regulation under 
the Act. The 1996 amendments specify that EPA must publish the first 
list of contaminants for consideration not later

[[Page 55149]]

than 18 months after the date of enactment of the SDWA amendments of 
1996 (i.e., by February, 1998) and additional lists every five years 
thereafter. The Act also requires EPA to select for further 
consideration and possible regulation those contaminants that present 
the greatest health concern. The list of contaminants involves 
consultation with the scientific community and comment from the public.

B. Request for Stakeholder Involvement

    EPA began a series of stakeholder meetings in March of 1995 to 
obtain input on a number of issues related to the Agency's Drinking 
Water Program. Separate stakeholder meetings have been conducted to 
obtain input on priorities for the Drinking Water Program, scientific 
data needs, treatment technology, health assessment, analytical 
methods, source water protection, small systems capacity building, 
focusing and improving implementation, revising chemical monitoring 
requirements, defining source protection as a best available technology 
(BAT), and other revisions to strengthen enforcement and 
implementation. Input from those meetings helped the Agency in the 
development of a draft comprehensive redirection plan released for 
public comment on November 19, 1995 (USEPA. Drinking Water Program 
Redirection Proposal. A Public Comment Draft. EPA 810-D-95-001. Nov. 
1995). Another stakeholder meeting was held on May 21, 1996 on the 
direction of the Drinking Water Health Advisory Program.
    The upcoming meeting deals specifically with EPA's efforts to 
develop a risk-based method to identify contaminants for drinking water 
regulations, health advisories, additional toxicity research, and 
monitoring. EPA's goal is to develop a method that is able to identify 
those contaminants that may pose the greatest public health threat. The 
prioritization of contaminants for drinking water regulation (and for 
development of health advisories, research or monitoring efforts) would 
ensure that EPA uses its limited resources in an efficient manner. 
There is a more immediate need now to develop a risk-based drinking 
water Contaminant Identification Method since the 1996 amendments to 
the SDWA require EPA to publish the first list of contaminants for 
possible regulation by February, 1998.
    EPA is working on a Conceptual Approach for the Contaminant 
Identification Method. This approach considers factors such as 
potential adverse health effects, information on concentrations in 
drinking water supplies, human exposure via drinking water and other 
sources, and data uncertainty. Both chemical contaminants and microbes 
will be considered in the Contaminant Identification Method development 
process. Background materials on the Conceptual Approach, the process 
to develop and implement the Contaminant Identification Method, and the 
first listing of contaminants for consideration will be sent to all 
registered participants in advance of the meeting. The specific issues 
for discussion at the meeting will be based on those materials and will 
include (but may not be limited to) the following:
    (1) Are the steps described in the Conceptual Approach for the 
Contaminant Identification Method the right ones? Is there anything 
missing?
    (2) Is this model or Conceptual Approach workable/usable for 
microbial contaminants? Are any modifications necessary?
    (3) To what extent should the 18 month process (i.e., the listing 
of the first group of contaminants for possible regulation) reflect 
this Conceptual Approach?
    (4) What are the sources of information for ``contaminants to be 
considered''? Are any sources missing? What weight or relative 
importance should be given to the sources?
    (5) Should there be a relative weighting of different types of data 
for ranking decisions? How should EPA integrate the toxicity and 
occurrence data into a point system or weighting scheme for a risk-
based approach?
    (6) How should EPA evaluate the quality and quantity of available 
data (both occurrence and toxicity) to determine the contaminants to be 
considered for regulation?
    (7) What degree of contamination represents a national priority 
(i.e., widespread public health threat versus local concern)?
    (8) How do we resolve differences of opinion (i.e., differences on 
interpretation of the data) amongst knowledgeable persons?
    (9) At what point and should cost/benefits be considered in the 
contaminant identification process?
    (10) What process should EPA use to select the final list of 
contaminants?
    (11) What contaminants should be added to the 1991 Drinking Water 
Priority List (DWPL) as part of the next list of contaminants for 
consideration due in early 1998? What contaminants should be deleted 
from the 1991 DWPL?
    (12) How should the contaminant identification process influence 
the development and design of a drinking water contaminant occurrence 
database, also required under the Amendments?
    EPA has convened this public meeting to hear the views of 
stakeholders on the Conceptual Approach, the process to develop and 
implement the Contaminant Identification Method, and the first list of 
contaminants for consideration. The public is invited to provide 
comments on the issues listed above or other issues related to the 
Drinking Water Contaminant Identification Method during the December 2-
3, 1996 meeting.

    Dated: October 18, 1996.
Cynthia Dougherty,
Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.
[FR Doc. 96-27309 Filed 10-23-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P