[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6176-6179]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-3042]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5952-3]


Sole Source Aquifer Designation of Poolesville Area Aquifer 
System, Lower Western Montgomery County, MD

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Regional Administrator of Region III of the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that the portion 
of the Piedmont aquifer system that underlies Poolesville and the 
surrounding area in lower western Montgomery County, Maryland 
(denominated as ``Poolesville Area Aquifer System'') is the sole or 
principal source of drinking water for this area and if the aquifer 
system were contaminated would create a significant hazard to public 
health. This determination is in response to a

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petition submitted by a citizen group, For A Rural Montgomery (FARM), 
requesting that the Administrator of EPA make a determination under 
Section 1424(e) of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. 300h-3(e), as 
amended, that the Poolesville Area Aquifer System is a sole or 
principal source of drinking water for the area. As a result of Sole 
Source Aquifer (SSA) designation, federal financially assisted projects 
in the designated area will be subject to EPA review pursuant to 
section 1424(e) to ensure that these projects are designed and 
constructed so that they do not contaminate this aquifer so as to 
create a significant hazard to public health. The Poolesville Area SSA 
adds an additional area to the existing Maryland Piedmont SSA area, 
previously designated by EPA in 1980 (45 FR 57165, 08/27/80). The 
Maryland Piedmont SSA includes seven surface water drainage basins 
which underlie northwestern Montgomery County, and extend into minor 
portions of Frederick, Carroll and Howard Counties, MD. The addition of 
the Poolesville Area Aquifer System to the existing SSA will extend the 
Maryland Piedmont SSA from State Route 28 (approximate boundary) to the 
Potomac River, between Little Monocacy River and Seneca Creek's 
confluence with the Potomac River.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This determination shall become effective February 23, 
1998.

ADDRESSES: The data upon which these findings are based are available 
to the public and may be inspected during normal business hours at the 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency--Region III, Drinking Water 
Branch, 841 Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, PA 19107.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara Smith, Drinking Water Branch, 
U.S. EPA-III at the address above or at (215) 566-5786, e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Section 1424(e) of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. 300h-
3(e), states:

    If the Administrator determines, on his own initiative or 
petition, that an area has an aquifer which is the sole or principal 
drinking water source for the area and which, if contaminated, would 
create a significant hazard to public health, he shall publish 
notice of that determination in the Federal Register. After the 
publication of any such notice, no commitment for federal financial 
assistance (through a grant, contract, loan guarantee, or otherwise) 
may be entered into for any project which the Administrator 
determines may contaminate such aquifer through a recharge zone so 
as to create a significant hazard to public health, but a commitment 
for federal financial assistance may, if authorized under another 
provision of law, be entered into to plan or design the project to 
assure that it will not so contaminate the aquifer.

    In December 1996, EPA Region III received a petition from FARM, 
requesting the designation of the aquifer system underlying the 
Poolesville area as a sole source aquifer under Section 1424(e) of the 
SDWA. EPA reviewed the petition and supporting documentation and began 
gathering available data to make a determination. EPA opened the 
official public comment period on the petition on June 18, 1997 and 
announced a public hearing in a local paper, to be held in Poolesville. 
EPA conducted the public hearing on July 24, 1997 at the Poolesville 
Elementary School. The public comment period closed on August 31, 1997. 
EPA received eleven letters from a variety of people, mostly 
representatives of local citizen groups, eight of which expressed 
support for the SSA designation, two expressed opposition to 
designation and one letter requested more information and a public 
hearing. Twenty-seven people attended the public hearing and 19 people 
presented statements, all in support of designation.

II. Basis for Determination

    Among the factors considered by the Regional Administrator as part 
of the review and technical verification process for designating an 
area under Section 1424(e) were:
    1. The aquifer system underlying the Poolesville area supplies the 
service area population with 50% or more of its drinking water needs.
    2. There are no economical alternative drinking water source or 
combination of sources to supply the designated service area.
    3. The EPA has found that FARM has appropriately delineated the 
boundaries of the aquifer project review and service area.
    4. While the quality of the area's ground water is considered to be 
good, it is vulnerable to contamination due to the relatively thin soil 
cover and rapid movement of ground water in fractured rock, coupled 
with increasing development and other land uses. Thin soil cover may 
allow contaminants to be rapidly introduced into the ground water with 
minimal assimilation into the soil. Rapid movement of ground water 
through fractured rock can allow contaminants to spread quickly, once 
introduced. Clean up of contaminated fractured aquifers is usually 
difficult to achieve and an expensive, long term effort. The designated 
area is underlain primarily by a fractured nonmarine sedimentary rock 
aquifer system, with some localized diabase intrusions. The aquifer 
system also includes an area of phyllite, terrace and alluvial 
deposits.
    5. Definable Aquifer Boundaries: EPA guidance allows designations 
to be made for entire aquifers, hydrologically connected aquifers 
(aquifer systems), or part of an aquifer if that portion is 
hydrologically separated from the rest of the aquifer. The Poolesville 
Area Aquifer System boundary is based on accepted hydrological 
principles and EPA's interpretation of available data.

III. Description of the Aquifer System That Underlies the Designated 
Poolesville Area

    The aquifer system underlying the Poolesville area is within the 
Piedmont Lowland physiographic province. The designated area extends 
the southwestern boundary of the existing SSA, called the Maryland 
Piedmont Aquifer, from State Route 28 (approximate boundary) to the 
Potomac River, between Little Monocacy River and Seneca Creek's 
confluence with the Potomac River. The designated area encompasses the 
surface area, as well as the underlying formations. The topography of 
the area is gently rolling, cut by streams and small tributaries. The 
area's climate is moderate and somewhat humid. Precipitation that has 
not evaporated, transpired or drained as runoff from the area recharges 
the underlying aquifer system with water.
    The Poolesville area is underlain primarily by nonmarine 
sedimentary conglomerates, sandstones, siltstones and shales which have 
been locally intruded by diabase. These fractured rocks of Triassic age 
are part of the Newark Group, largely the New Oxford formation. The 
area northeast of Poolesville is underlain by phyllite crystalline rock 
of early Paleozoic age (approximate age) and underlies the Barnesville, 
Beallsville and Jerusalem area. The phyllitic rocks are foliated and 
fractured. Located west of Poolesville towards the Potomac River, are 
terrace deposits of Tertiary age, comprised of unconsolidated sediments 
that are not used for ground water supply. Alluvial sediments of 
Quaternary age occur along the Potomac River valley and some of the 
major tributaries, but also are not used for ground water supply.
    All drinking water (except commercially obtained bottled water) in 
the Poolesville area is ground water, supplied by the underlying 
aquifer system. Poolesville residents are served by public water supply 
wells, and residents outside of Poolesville

[[Page 6178]]

Township obtain their drinking water from private wells.
    The quality of ground water underlying the Poolesville area is 
generally good, but both the relatively thin soil cover and rapid 
movement of ground water in fractured rock reduce the capacity for 
contaminant attenuation, making the aquifer vulnerable to contaminates 
from point and nonpoint sources.
    The only alternative sources of water (other than the existing 
supply of ground water from the Poolesville Area Aquifer System) to be 
considered include surface water sources, or ground water that is 
extracted outside the SSA area and transported to the Poolesville area, 
or a combination of the two. The two most likely scenarios in the event 
that the area's ground water was made unusable, are that the area would 
be served by extending water mains from Washington Suburban Sanitary 
Commission's (WSSC) existing distribution system, or by building local 
intakes and treatment facilities on the Potomac River and supplying the 
area. A third option is less likely and that would include pumping 
ground water from areas outside the SSA and delivering the water to the 
SSA area. All of the above options, and any others not discussed here, 
are economically infeasible due to the difficulties and costs of 
constructing water mains, distribution lines and pumping stations 
through out the entire designated area. Whereas the Town of Poolesville 
has the water infrastructure in place (wells, treatment, storage and 
distribution lines) and could probably be connected to the nearest WSSC 
distribution line for an affordable price, the area outside of 
Poolesville, that relies on individual wells and has no water 
distribution system in place, could not afford the massive expense 
involved in laying distribution pipes to each farm, home, business and 
school in the designated area. Houses and farms are located farther 
apart in the areas outside of Poolesville, and could not be put on a 
distribution system in an economically feasible way.
    Local government has acted to protect the ground water quality in 
Poolesville by starting a Wellhead Protection program in cooperation 
with the Maryland Department of the Environment. The petitioner group 
believes that a Sole Source Aquifer designation would augment local 
ground water protection efforts, and assist in preserving the rural and 
natural resources of the area.

IV. Information Utilized in Determination

    The information utilized in this determination includes: the 
petition and supporting document submitted to the EPA Region III by 
FARM, letters received during the public comment period, and public 
comments received during the public hearing. In addition, much of the 
information has been derived from published literature on the 
hydrogeology and water resources of the region. This information is 
available to the public and may be inspected at the address listed 
above. The petition and support document, the transcript of the public 
hearing and EPA's response summary to public comment are available in 
the Poolesville Public Library, in Poolesville, MD.

V. Project Review

    EPA Region III is working with the federal agencies most likely to 
provide financial assistance to projects in the project review area. 
Interagency procedures and Memoranda of Understanding will be developed 
through which EPA will be notified of proposed commitments by federal 
agencies to projects which could potentially impact the Poolesville 
Area Aquifer System. The EPA will evaluate such projects, and where 
necessary, conduct an in-depth review, including soliciting State and 
local government and public comments when appropriate. Should the 
Regional Administrator determine that a project may contaminate the 
aquifer through its recharge zone so as to create a significant hazard 
to public health, no commitment for federal financial assistance may be 
entered into for that project. However, a commitment for federal 
financial assistance may, if authorized under another provision of law, 
be entered into to plan or design the project to ensure that it will 
not contaminate the aquifer. Included in the review of any federal 
financially-assisted projects will be the coordination with state and 
local agencies and the project's developers. Their comments will be 
given full consideration and EPA's review will attempt to complement 
and support state and local ground water protection measures. Although 
the project review process cannot be delegated, EPA will rely to the 
maximum extent possible on any existing or future state and/or local 
control measures to protect the quality of ground water in the 
Poolesville Area Aquifer Review Area.

VI. Economic and Regulatory Impact

    Pursuant to the provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 
5 U.S.C. 605(b), I hereby certify that this designation will not have a 
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. For 
purposes of this Certification, the ``small entity'' shall have the 
same meaning as given in Section 601 of the RFA. This action is only 
applicable to projects with the potential to impact the Poolesville 
Area Aquifer System SSA as designated.
    The only affected entities will be those businesses, organizations 
or governmental jurisdictions that request federal financial assistance 
for projects which have the potential for contaminating the Sole Source 
Aquifer so as to create a significant hazard to public health. EPA does 
not expect to be reviewing small isolated commitments of financial 
assistance on an individual basis, unless a cumulative impact on the 
aquifer is anticipated; accordingly, the number of affected small 
entities will be minimal.
    For those small entities which are subject to review, the impact to 
today's action will not be significant. Most projects subject to this 
review will be preceded by a ground water impact assessment required 
pursuant to other federal laws, such as the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) as amended 42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq. Integration of 
those related review procedures with sole source aquifer review will 
allow EPA and other Federal agencies to avoid delay or duplication of 
effort in approving financial assistance, thus minimizing any adverse 
effect on those small entities which are affected. Finally, today's 
action does not prevent grants of federal financial assistance which 
may be available to any affected small entity in order to pay for the 
redesign of the project to assure protection of the aquifer.
    Under Executive Order 12866, EPA must judge whether a regulation is 
``major'' and therefore subject to the requirement of a Regulatory 
Impact Analysis. This regulation is not major because it will not have 
an annual effect of $100 million or more on the economy, will not cause 
any major increase in costs or prices and will not have significant 
adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, 
innovation, or the ability of United States enterprises to compete in 
domestic or export markets. Today's action only affects the Poolesville 
Area Aquifer System in Western Montgomery County, MD. It provides an 
additional review of ground water protection

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measures, incorporating state and local measures whenever possible, for 
only those projects which request federal financial assistance.

VII. Summary

    This determination affects only the Poolesville Area Aquifer System 
located in Western Montgomery County, MD. As a result of this Sole 
Source Aquifer determination, all federal financially-assisted projects 
proposed in the designated area will be subject to EPA review to ensure 
that they do not create a significant hazard to public health. Once 
designated, the Poolesville Area Aquifer System will become part of the 
existing MD Piedmont SSA area.

    Dated: January 14, 1998.
Thomas C. Voltaggio,
Acting Regional Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency--
Region III.
[FR Doc. 98-3042 Filed 2-5-98; 8:45 am]
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