[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