[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 42 (Wednesday, March 4, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10608-10609]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-5557]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5973-8]


Announcement of Stakeholder Meeting To Address Environmental 
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations in Regard To 
Implementing the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996

AGENCY: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of stakeholders meeting.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be holding 
a simultaneous, one day public meeting via videoconference call in 
eleven cities on March 12, 1998. The purposes of this meeting are to 
identify issues and solicit input from stakeholders and the public at 
large on environmental justice related considerations of several 
proposed drinking water regulations. This meeting is being held as part 
of the Agency's effort to comply with Executive Order 12898. President 
Clinton signed Executive Order 12898, Federal Actions to Address 
Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income 
Populations, on February 11, 1994. The Executive Order increased Agency 
responsibilities such that, to the greatest extent practicable and 
permitted by law, each Federal Agency must make achieving environmental 
justice part of its mission by identifying and addressing 
disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental 
effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority 
populations and low-income populations in the United States and its 
territories. In order to fulfill its responsibilities to Executive 
Order 12898, EPA would like to have a dialogue with stakeholders and 
the public on the various components of pending drinking water 
regulations, including treatment; costs; benefits; data quality; health 
effects; the regulatory process; and impacts to sensitive 
subpopulations, minority populations, and low-income populations. EPA 
is seeking input from national, state, Tribal, municipal, and 
individual stakeholders. This meeting is a

[[Page 10609]]

continuation of stakeholder meetings 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 support strong, 
flexible partnerships among EPA, States, Tribes, local governments, and 
the public. At the upcoming meeting, EPA is specifically seeking input 
from stakeholders focused on issues related to environmental justice. 
EPA encourages the full participation of all stakeholders throughout 
this process.

DATES: This stakeholder meeting will be held on Thursday, March 12, 
1998 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST. It will be held simultaneously 
in eleven cities across the United States via videoconference call.
    Registration: To register for the meeting, please contact the name 
next to the city in which you plan to attend the meeting. Those 
registered for the meeting by Wednesday, March 4, 1998 will receive an 
agenda, logistics sheet, and background materials for the different 
regulations prior to the meeting. The following information contains 
the meeting location and contact name and phone number for registration 
in each city.

EPA Region 1, One Congress St., 10th Floor, Boston, MA 02203-0001: 
Rhona Julien, 617/565-9454.
EPA Region 2, 290 Broadway, 26th Floor, New York, NY, 10007: Wanda 
Ayala, 212/637-3660.
OSWERNJ, Edison Division of Science and Assessment, 2890 Woodbridge 
Ave., Edison, NJ 08837: Wanda Ayala, 212/637-3660.
EPA Region 3, 841 Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, PA 19107: Reggie 
Harris, 215/566-2988. (Philadelphia will be on conference call only)
EPA Region 4, 100 Alabama St., SW, Atlanta, GA 30303: Natalie 
Ellington, 404/562-9453.
EPA Region 5, 77 West Jackson, Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604-3507: Karla 
Johnson, 312/886-5993.
EPA Region 6, First Interstate Bank at Fountain Place, 1445 Ross Ave., 
12th Floor, Suite 1200, Dallas, TX 75202-2733: Shirley Augurson, 214/
665-7401.
EPA Region 7, 726 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, KS 66101: Althea Moses, 
913/551-7649.
EPA Region 8, 999 18th St., Suite 500, Denver, CO 80202-2405: Nancy 
Reish, 303/312-6040.
EPA Region 9, 75 Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105: Loretta 
Vanegas, 415/744-1946.
EPA Headquarters, Auditorium, 401 M St., SW, Washington, DC 20460: Safe 
Drinking Water Hotline, 1-800-426-4791.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    Under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments of 1996, EPA 
must develop regulations for several contaminants and develop 
regulatory tools for more thorough analyses. The 1996 SDWA amendments 
require that new regulations be developed so as to ensure that they 
represent a meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction. Also 
required is a detailed analysis of the relationship to: health impacts, 
including those to sensitive subgroups; impacts of other contaminants; 
treatment objectives; incremental impacts above a baseline that 
considers current regulations; uncertainty; and affordability. EPA must 
also consider the impact on the technical, financial, and managerial 
capacity of water systems. In so doing, EPA must also use the best 
available, peer reviewed science and methods. After first defining a 
maximum contaminant level (MCL), or treatment technique standard based 
on affordable technology, EPA must determine whether the costs of that 
standard would be justified by the benefits. If not, EPA may adjust an 
MCL to a level that maximizes health risk reduction benefits at a cost 
that is justified by the benefits. The authority to adjust the MCL has 
limits that also require evaluation. The SDWA also requires that 
comprehensive, informative, and understandable information be provided 
to the public.
    The upcoming meeting deals specifically with EPA's efforts to 
develop new regulations for specific drinking water contaminants and 
the processes involved in developing them. EPA is to propose a Maximum 
Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) and National Primary Drinking Water 
Standards (NPDWSs) for radon by August 1999, and propose a NPDWS for 
arsenic by January 2000. EPA will revise and strengthen the 1989 
Surface Water Treatment Rule and is required to have the Interim 
Enhanced Surface Water Treatment and Stage 1 Disinfection Byproducts 
Rules (DBPR) finalized by November 1998, and the Ground Water 
Disinfection Rule (GWDR) proposed by March 1999. EPA must also issue 
regulations to address filter backwash recycling and a Long Term 
Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule. These rules are to control 
microbial pathogens, disinfectants and disinfection byproducts (DBPs) 
in drinking water. Regulatory impact analysis (cost-benefit analysis) 
is also addressed in SDWA and will be discussed at the meeting.

B. Request for Stakeholder Involvement

    EPA has announced this public meeting to hear the views of 
stakeholders on EPA's plans for proposed regulations for radon, ground 
water disinfection, surface water treatment, arsenic, and approaches 
for enacting regulatory cost and benefit analysis.

    Dated: February 20, 1998.
Elizabeth R. Fellows,
Acting Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, 
Environmental Protection Agency.
[FR Doc. 98-5557 Filed 3-3-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-F