[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 196 (Thursday, October 9, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52719-52720]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-26860]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5907-1]


Federal Register Notice of Stakeholders Meeting on Drinking Water 
Regulation Action

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Announcement of stakeholders meeting on October 29, 1997 to 
advise EPA on the scope of the revision to the public notification rule 
under the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a public 
meeting on October 29, 1997 in Seattle, Washington. EPA, in 
collaboration with the State Division of Drinking Water in the 
Washington Department of Health, is sponsoring this meeting. 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 October 29, 1997, from 1 p.m. to 5 
p.m. Pacific Daylight Savings Time. Registration will start at 12:30 
p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting is to be held at the Physics/Astronomy Building, 
University of Washington Campus, Room PABA102, Corner of 15th Ave. NE 
and NE Pacific Street, Seattle, Washington. 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 Diana Horan 
of the Washington State Division of Drinking Water at (360) 664-4345. 
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

[[Page 52720]]

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; or (3) 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 as a result of short-term 
exposure''; (2) SDWA section 1414(c)(2)(D) gives EPA more discretion to 
set less prescriptive notice requirements for all other violations, 
such as requiring the notice in an annual report; and (3) SDWA section 
1414(c)(2)(B)) allows the states 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 
is holding three or more public stakeholder meetings prior to drafting 
a new regulation. This is the third of the scheduled stakeholder 
meetings to be held since August, 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 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.

    Dated: October 3, 1997.
Elizabeth Fellows,
Acting Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.
[FR Doc. 97-26860 Filed 10-8-97; 8:45 am]
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