[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 209 (Wednesday, October 29, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56164-56165]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-28554]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5914-8]


EPA's National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence Data Base

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Announcement of a Joint Requirements Planning Meeting on the 
National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence Data Base.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has scheduled a 
five-day Joint Requirement Planning (JRP) meeting on EPA's development 
of a National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence Data Base (NCOD). 
The JRP is a structured meeting designed to gather requirements on a 
new information system from a varied body of stakeholders with an 
interest in the system. At the upcoming meeting, EPA is seeking input 
from key national, State, individual stakeholders and other interested 
parties concerning the objectives, questions and data elements to be 
addressed in the design and development of the NCOD.

DATES: The Joint Requirements Planning Meeting on the National Drinking 
Water Contaminant Occurrence Data Base will be held on November 17-21, 
1997 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in the WIC-2 South conference room 
at USEPA Waterside Mall, 401 M Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20460. For 
additional information, please contact Harriet Colbert, at phone: (202) 
260-2302, fax: (202) 260-3762, or by e-mail at 
[email protected]. Members of the public wishing to 
attend the meeting may register by phone by contacting Harriet Colbert 
by October 31, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information and logistics for the 
meeting, please contact Harriet Colbert, at phone: (202) 260-2302, fax: 
(202) 260-3762, or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    A. Background on the National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence 
Data Base Section 126(g)(1) of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments 
of 1996 (SDWA) requires the Administrator to assemble and maintain a 
national drinking water contaminant occurrence database by using 
information on the occurrence of both regulated and unregulated 
contaminants in public water systems and reliable information from 
other public and private sources. This National Contaminant Occurrence 
Database (NCOD) will be a collection of data of documented quality on 
unregulated and regulated chemical or microbial contaminants likely to 
occur in drinking water systems. The purpose of the data system is to 
support the identification and selection of contaminants for future 
regulation or other appropriate actions and to support the review of 
existing regulations for possible modification. The database must be 
developed no later than three years after the date of enactment of the 
SDWA Amendments. Therefore, SDWA requires the Office of Ground Water 
and Drinking Water (OGWDW) to develop the NCOD by August 6, 1999.
    B. Request for stakeholder Involvement. At the May 1997 NCOD 
Stakeholders meeting, there was general concurrence that the primary 
user of the database will be EPA. Stakeholders such as industry, 
environmental groups, States and the general public are secondary 
users. As a result of the meeting, the NCOD Team established a system 
development strategy. The strategy will serve as a ``road map'' over 
the next two years for developing the first release of the data base to 
meet the statutory requirements. One of the major steps in implementing 
the development strategy is to determine what the needs are and 
specifically what types of data are required to meet those needs. User 
requirements will serve as the foundation upon which the database will 
be developed.
    Discussion materials will be available at the meeting. The specific 
issue for discussion at the meeting will be what data elements are 
needed to allow sound scientific analysis to support contaminant 
identification, contaminant selection, regulatory development, and 
regulatory re-examination.
    The public is invited to provide comments on the issue listed above 
or other issues related to the National Drinking Water Contaminant 
Occurrence Data Base during the November 17-21 meeting.


[[Page 56165]]


    Dated: October 23, 1997.
Elizabeth Fellows,
Acting Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.
[FR Doc. 97-28554 Filed 10-28-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P