[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 191 (Friday, October 2, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53050-53051]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-26458]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6171-8]


Announcement of Stakeholders Meeting on the National Primary 
Drinking Water Regulation for Radon-222

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 one-and-a-hald day public meeting on October 19 and 20, 1998 in 
Washington, D.C. The purpose of this meeting is to present updated 
information on EPA's activities for developing a proposed National 
Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) for radon-222 and a summary 
of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Report findings on radon in 
drinking water, and to discuss the implications of these findings for 
the overall radon rule development. This upcoming meeting is the fourth 
stakeholders meetings on the NPDWR for radon. The first meeting was 
held on June 26, 1997 in Washington, DC, the second meeting on 
September 2, 1997 in San Francisco, CA, and the third on October 30, 
1997 in Boston, MA. At the upcoming meeting, EPA is seeking input from 
State and Tribal drinking water and radon 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 NPDWR for 
radon. EPA encourages the full participation of stakeholders throughout 
this process.

DATES: The stakeholder meeting on the NPDWR for radon will be held on

[[Page 53051]]

Monday, October 19, 1998 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST, and Tuesday, 
October 20, 1998, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EST. Check-in will begin 
at 8:30 a.m.

ADDRESSES: For more information and to register for the meeting, please 
e-mail Malani Shoenwetter, Resolve, Inc., at [email protected], 
or call her at 202-965-6387 by no later than October 9, 1998. Members 
of the public who cannot attend the meeting in person may participate 
via conference call. Conference lines are limited and will be allocated 
on the basis of first-reserved, first served. The meeting will be held 
the Resolve, Inc., 1255 23rd Street, NW, Suite 275, Washington, DC 
20037.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
For general information on meeting logistics, please e-mail Malani 
Shoenwetter, Resolve, Inc., at [email protected], or call her at 
202-965-6387. For information on the activities related to developing 
the NPDWR for radon and other EPA activities under the Safe Drinking 
Water Act, contact the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791 or 
visit EPA's Office of Ground Water web site at www.epa.gov/ogwdw. An 
executive summary of the NAS Report on Risk Assessment of Radon in 
Drinking Water can be accessed through www.epa.gov/ogwdw/radon/
nas.html. For information on radon in indoor air, contact the National 
Safety Council's National Radon Hotline at 1-800-SOS-RADON.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    On July 18, 1991 (56 FR 33050), EPA proposed a Maximum Contaminant 
Level Goal (MCLG) and National Primary Drinking Water Regulation 
(NPDWR) for radon and other radionuclides in public water supplies. EPA 
proposed to regulate radon at 300 pCi/L. Commenters on the 1991 
proposed NPDWR for radon raised several concerns, including cost of 
implementation, especially for small systems, and the larger risk to 
public health from radon in indoor air from soil under buildings.
    On August 6, 1996, amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) 
were enacted, which established a new charter for the nation's public 
water systems, States, and EPA in protecting the safety of drinking 
water. The amendments [Sec. 1412(b)(13)] direct EPA to develop MCLG and 
NPDWR for radon. EPA is required to (1) withdraw the 1991 proposed MCLG 
and NPDWR for radon-222 (the proposed rule for radon was withdrawn on 
August 6, 1997; 62 FR 42221); (2) arrange for the National Academy of 
Sciences (NAS) to conduct an independent risk assessment for radon in 
drinking water and an independent assessment of risk reduction benefits 
from various mitigation measures to reduce radon in indoor air (the NAS 
report was released to the public on September 15, 1998); (3) publish a 
radon health risk reduction and cost analysis for possible radon 
Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for public comment by February, 1999; 
(4) propose an MCLG and NPDWR for radon by August, 1999; and (5) 
publish a final MCLG and NPDWR for radon by August, 2000.
    If the MCL is ``more stringent than necessary to reduce the 
contribution to radon in indoor air from drinking water to a 
concentration that is equivalent to the national average concentration 
of radon in outdoor air,'' EPA is also required to promulgate an 
alternative MCL and publish guidelines for state multimedia mitigation 
programs to mitigate radon levels in indoor air. The alternative MCL 
would ``result in a contribution of radon from drinking water to radon 
levels in indoor air equivalent to the national average concentration 
of radon in outdoor air.'' States may develop and submit to EPA for 
approval a multimedia program to mitigate radon levels in indoor air. 
EPA shall approve State multimedia mitigation programs if they are 
expected to achieve equivalent or greater health risk reduction 
benefits than compliance with the MCL. If EPA approves a State 
multimedia mitigation program, public water supply systems within the 
State may comply with the alternative MCL. If EPA does not approve a 
State program, or the State does not propose a program, public water 
supply systems may propose multimedia mitigation programs to EPA, under 
the same procedures outlined for States.

B. Request for Stakeholder Involvement

    EPA intends for the proposed NPDWR for radon to incorporate the 
best available science, treatment technologies, occurrence data, cost/
benefit analyses, and stakeholder input on technical and implementation 
issues. EPA has evaluated comments on the 1991 proposed NPDWR for radon 
and will be considering those comments in developing the regulation.
    The meeting will cover a broad range of issues including: (1) 
Technical updates on radon in drinking water rule development 
(treatment technologies, occurrence, analytical methods); (2) summary 
of the NAS report findings on radon in drinking water and implications 
of these findings for the overall radon rule development; (3) 
implications of the NAS findings for the multimedia mitigation program 
component of the rule; (4) update on the development of the multimedia 
mitigation program; and (5) stakeholder involvement processes.
    EPA has announced this public meeting to present information to 
stakeholders and to hear their views on EPA's activities for developing 
a NPDWR for radon. The public is invited to provide comments on the 
issues listed above and other issues related to the radon in drinking 
water regulation during the October 19-20, 1998 meeting.

    Dated: September 28, 1998.
Cynthia Dougherty,
Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, Environmental 
Protection Agency.
[FR Doc. 98-26458 Filed 10-1-98; 8:45 am]
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