[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 5 (Friday, January 8, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 1494-1498]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-321]



[[Page 1493]]

_______________________________________________________________________

Part VIII





Environmental Protection Agency





_______________________________________________________________________



40 CFR Part 141



Suspension of Unregulated Containment Monitoring Requirements for Small 
Public Water Systems; Final Rule and Proposed Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 5 / Friday, January 8, 1999 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 1494]]



ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 141

[FRL-6216-9]


Suspension of Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Requirements for 
Small Public Water Systems

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action on the Unregulated 
Contaminant Monitoring Regulation (UCMR) for public water systems. The 
UCMR requires all public water systems to monitor for unregulated 
contaminants during one year every five years. This direct final rule 
concerns the suspension of monitoring by small and medium systems for 
monitoring scheduled to begin after December 31, 1998. EPA is 
suspending this monitoring since the revised UCMR program, required by 
the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments, is projected to begin 
during this third round of monitoring. This will allow systems serving 
10,000 or fewer persons to save the cost of monitoring under the 
existing regulation, which if performed as scheduled would overlap with 
monitoring under the revised UCMR program.

DATES: The regulation is effective on March 9, 1999 without further 
notice unless EPA receives adverse comment by February 8, 1999. If EPA 
receives such comment, it will publish a timely withdrawal in the 
Federal Register informing the public that this rule will not take 
effect. For judicial review purposes, this final rule is promulgated as 
of 1:00 p.m. EST on January 22, 1999 as provided in 40 CFR 23.7.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to the Comment Clerk, docket number W-
98-29, Water Docket (MC 4101), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460. Please submit an original and 
three copies of your comments and enclosures (including references). 
The full record for this document has been established under docket 
number W-98-29 and includes supporting documentation as well as 
printed, paper versions of electronic comments. The full record is 
available for inspection from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, 
excluding legal holidays at the Water Docket, East Tower Basement, 
USEPA, 401 M Street, SW, Washington DC. For access to docket materials, 
please call 202-260-3027 to schedule an appointment.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles Job, Standards and Risk 
Management Division, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (MC-
4607), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, 
Washington DC 20460, (202) 260-7084 or Rachel Sakata, Standards and 
Risk Management Division, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water 
(MC-4607), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, 
Washington DC 20460, (202) 260-2527. Information may also be obtained 
from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline. Callers within the United 
States may reach the Hotline at (800) 426-4791. The Hotline is open 
Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays, from 9:00 a.m. to 
5:30 p.m. EST.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Preamble Outline
I. Background
II. Today's Action
III. Cost Savings to Public Water Systems Affected by this Action
IV. Administrative Requirements
    A. Executive Order 12866--Regulatory Planning and Review
    B. Executive Order 13045--Protection of Children from 
Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks
    C. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
    D. Paperwork Reduction Act
    E. Regulatory Flexibility Act
    F. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act
    G. Executive Order 12898--Federal Actions to Address 
Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income 
Populations
    H. Executive Order 12875--Enhancing the Intergovernmental 
Partnership
    I. Executive Order 13084--Consultation and Coordination with 
Indian Tribal Governments
    J. Administrative Procedure Act
    K. Congressional Review Act
V. Public Involvement in Regulation Development

    Potentially Regulated Entities: The regulated entities are public 
water systems. All large community and nontransient non-community water 
systems serving more than 10,000 persons would be required to monitor. 
A community water system means a public water system which serves at 
least 15 public service connections used by year-round residents or 
regularly serves at least 25 year-round residents. Nontransient non-
community water system means a public water system that is not a 
community water system and that regularly serves at least 25 of the 
same persons over 6 months per year. Only a national representative 
sample of community and non-transient non-community systems serving 
10,000 or fewer persons would be required to monitor. Transient non-
community systems (i.e., systems that do not regularly serve at least 
25 of the same persons over six months per year) would not be required 
to monitor. States, Territories, and Tribes with primacy to administer 
the regulatory program for public water systems under the Safe Drinking 
Water Act, sometimes conduct analyses to measure for contaminants in 
water samples and would be regulated by this action. Categories and 
entities that may ultimately be regulated include the following:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   Category                           Examples of potentially regulated entities           SIC
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State, Tribal and Territorial Governments....  States, Territories, and Tribes that analyze water           9511
                                                samples on behalf of public water systems required to
                                                conduct such analysis; States, Territories, and Tribes
                                                that themselves operate community and nontransient non-
                                                community water systems required to monitor.
Industry.....................................  Private operators of community and nontransient non-         4941
                                                community water systems required to monitor.
Municipalities...............................  Municipal operators of community and nontransient non-       9511
                                                community water systems required to monitor.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This table is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a 
guide for readers regarding entities likely to be regulated by this 
action. This table lists the types of entities that EPA is now aware 
could potentially be regulated by this action. Other types of entities 
not listed in the table could also be regulated. If you have questions 
regarding the applicability of this action to a particular entity, 
consult the person listed in the preceding FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section.

Proposed Rule Canceling Monitoring for Systems Serving 10,000 or 
Fewer Persons under Existing Regulation, 40 CFR 141.40

I. Background

    The requirement to monitor unregulated contaminants was first

[[Page 1495]]

established by the 1986 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act. The 
current Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring (UCM) Program implemented 
under 40 CFR 141.40 was established under three separate rulemakings 
(See Federal Register documents at 52 FR 25720 (July 8, 1987), 56 FR 
3526 (January 30, 1991), and 57 FR 31776 (July 17, 1992)). This program 
includes 34 contaminants listed below in Table 1 which are to be 
monitored by all community and non-transient non-community water 
systems and 14 contaminants that are only required to be monitored at 
the discretion of the State. Systems serving fewer than 150 service 
connections were waived from monitoring provided that they sent a 
letter to the State by January 1, 1991, or January 1, 1994, depending 
upon the contaminant(s), making their facilities available to the 
states for monitoring. Under 40 CFR 142.15, primacy states must report 
the results of this monitoring to EPA. Repeat monitoring is required 
every 5 years.

Table 1.--List of the Current Unregulated Contaminants

Contaminants Required for Monitoring

Aldicarb
Aldicarb sulfone
Aldicarb sulfoxide
Aldrin
Bromobenzene
Bromodichloromethane
Bromoform
Bromomethane (methyl bromide)
Butachlor
Carbaryl
Chlorodibromomethane
Chloroethane
Chloroform
Chloromethane
o-Chlorotoluene
p-Chlorotoluene
Dibromomethane
Dicamba
m-Dichlorobenzene
1,1-Dichloroethane
2,2-Dichloropropane
1,3-Dichloropropane
1,1-Dichloropropene
1,3-Dichloropropene
Dieldrin
3-Hydroxycarbofuran
Methomyl
Metolachlor
Metribuzin
Propachlor
Sulfate
1,1,1,2-Tetrachloroethane
1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane
1,2,3-Trichloropropane

Contaminants for Which Monitoring Was Required at the Discretion of the 
State

Bromochloromethane
sec-Butylbenzene
n-Butylbenzene
tert-Butylbenzene
Dichlorodifluoromethane
Fluorotrichloromethane
Hexachlorobutadine
Isopropylbenzene
p-Isopropyltoluene
Naphthalene
n-Propylbenzene
1,2,3-Trichlorobenzene
1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene
1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene

    Under the requirement to monitor every five years, systems serving 
more than 10,000 persons were to begin their third round of monitoring 
for these unregulated contaminants no later than January 1, 1998. 
Systems serving 3,300 to 10,000 persons were to begin their third 
monitoring round no later than January 1, 1999, affecting 3,410 systems 
nationwide. Systems serving less than 3,300 are required to begin their 
third monitoring round no later than January 1, 2001, affecting 
approximately 22,000 systems nationwide.

II. Today's Action

    EPA is suspending the continuing requirement for small systems to 
monitor every 5 years under the existing regulation. Under today's 
action, systems serving 3,300 to 10,000 persons will not be required to 
monitor after the rule is effective and systems serving less than 3,300 
persons will not be required to monitor after January 1, 2001. 
Effective January 1, 1999, EPA is suspending monitoring that would be 
required to begin on or after that date. Any additional monitoring for 
these systems will be a part of EPA's revision of the UCM regulations, 
due by August 1999. This suspension does not eliminate the requirement 
to monitor during monitoring rounds one and two, which were required to 
begin in 1989 and 1994 respectively.
    The reasons for this suspension of existing monitoring for systems 
serving 10,000 or fewer persons are:
    (a) The 1996 amendments to the SDWA require EPA to overhaul the UCM 
program, with changes to the list of contaminants as well as the number 
of systems that will need to monitor. The statutory deadline for the 
revised UCM program is August 6, 1999.
    (b) Beginning January 1, 1999, most systems serving 3,300 to 10,000 
persons will need to initiate another round of monitoring for the 
contaminants on the existing monitoring. Under the revised program, 
this list of contaminants will change and many of these systems will 
not need to monitor for the new list of contaminants.
    (c) EPA already has received results from 28,000 systems from two 
previous rounds of monitoring.
    (d) EPA will have monitoring results from large systems (serving 
more than 10,000 persons) for a third monitoring round which was to 
begin no later than January 1, 1998. This will provide sufficient 
confirming information on the occurrence of contaminants and any 
additional action that EPA might need to take with regard to these 
contaminants.
    Therefore, because additional monitoring under the soon-to-be-
superceded program is unnecessary and burdensome for small systems, EPA 
believes that the monitoring requirements for these systems should be 
suspended.
    This direct final rule grew out of the regulation development 
process for the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulation. The UCMR 
workgroup unanimously agrees that the cancellation of unregulated 
contaminant monitoring requirements demonstrates good government. This 
is because the proposed timing of the revised monitoring program occurs 
close to the time of monitoring required by small systems under the 
existing UCMR rule. The workgroup felt it was appropriate to suspend 
monitoring because adequate data existed to assist EPA in future 
regulatory decisions.

III. Cost Savings to Public Water Systems Affected by This Action

    Since this action is deregulatory in nature, a cost savings will 
accrue to these systems. EPA estimates that the cost for the affected 
systems to monitor is $1,778,000 each year. Since these small systems 
will not incur these costs, this rule results in cost savings to them.

IV. Administrative Requirements

A. Executive Order 12866--Regulatory Planning and Review

    Under Executive Order 12866, (58 FR 51735 (October 4, 1993)) the 
Agency must determine whether the regulatory action is ``significant'' 
and therefore subject to OMB review and the requirements of the 
Executive Order. The Order defines ``significant regulatory action'' as 
one that is likely to result in a rule that may:
    (1) Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or 
adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the 
economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public 
health or safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or 
communities;

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    (2) Create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an 
action taken or planned by another agency;
    (3) Materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlements, grants, 
user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients 
thereof; or
    (4) Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal 
mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles set forth in 
the Executive Order.''
    It has been determined that this rule is not a ``significant 
regulatory action'' under the terms of Executive Order 12866 and is 
therefore not subject to OMB review.

B. Executive Order 13045--Protection of Children From Environmental 
Health Risks and Safety Risks

    Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997) applies to any 
rule that: (1) is determined to be ``economically significant'' as 
defined under E.O. 12866, and (2) concerns an environmental health or 
safety risk that EPA has reason to believe may have a disproportionate 
effect on children. If the regulatory action meets both criteria, the 
Agency must evaluate the environmental health or safety effects of the 
planned rule on children, and explain why the planned regulation is 
preferable to other potentially effective and reasonably feasible 
alternatives considered by the Agency.
    This final rule is not subject to the Executive Order because it is 
not economically significant as defined in E.O. 12866, and because the 
Agency does not have reason to believe the environmental health or 
safety risks addressed by this action present a disproportionate risk 
to children. EPA believes that the Agency will have sufficient data 
from the previous unregulated contaminant monitoring (three monitoring 
rounds by systems serving more than 10,000 persons, and two monitoring 
rounds by systems serving 10,000 or fewer persons) to enable it to 
conduct the exposure assessments necessary for this sensitive 
subpopulation.

C. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public 
Law 104-4, establishes requirements for Federal agencies to assess the 
effects of their regulatory actions on State, local, and tribal 
governments and the private sector. Under section 202 of the UMRA, EPA 
generally must prepare a written statement, including a cost-benefit 
analysis, for proposed and final rules with ``Federal mandates'' that 
may result in expenditures to State, local, and tribal governments, in 
the aggregate, or to the private sector, of $100 million or more in any 
one year. Before promulgating an EPA rule for which a written statement 
is needed, section 205 of the UMRA generally requires EPA to identify 
and consider a reasonable number of regulatory alternatives and adopt 
the least costly, most cost-effective or least burdensome alternative 
that achieves the objectives of the rule. The provisions of section 205 
do not apply when they are inconsistent with applicable law. Moreover, 
section 205 allows EPA to adopt an alternative other than the least 
costly, most cost-effective or least burdensome alternative if the 
Administrator publishes with the final rule an explanation why that 
alternative was not adopted. Before EPA establishes any regulatory 
requirements that may significantly or uniquely affect small 
governments, including tribal governments, it must have developed under 
section 203 of the UMRA a small government agency plan. The plan must 
provide for notifying potentially affected small governments, enabling 
officials of affected small governments to have meaningful and timely 
input in the development of EPA regulatory proposals with significant 
Federal intergovernmental mandates, and informing, educating, and 
advising small governments on compliance with the regulatory 
requirements.
    Today's rule contains no Federal mandates (under the regulatory 
provisions of Title II of the UMRA) for State, local, or tribal 
governments or the private sector. The rule does not impose any 
enforceable duties on these entities. Further, this rule withdraws 
existing requirements, resulting in an estimated cost savings to these 
governments and the private sector of $553,500 each year, since they 
would no longer incur these costs. Thus, today's rule is not subject to 
the requirements of sections 202 and 205 of the UMRA.
    For the same reason, EPA has determined that this rule contains no 
regulatory requirements that might significantly or uniquely affect 
small governments. Thus, today's rule is not subject to the 
requirements of section 203 of UMRA.

D. Paperwork Reduction Act

    Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., 
information collection requirements must be submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for approval. An Information Collection 
Request (ICR) document for existing requirements was previously 
prepared by EPA (ICR No. 270.39) and approved by OMB (OMB No. 2040-
0090) and a copy may be obtained from Sandy Farmer by mail at OPPE 
Regulatory Information Division; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
(2137); 401 M St., S.W.; Washington, DC 20460, by email at: 
[email protected], or by calling: (202) 260-2740. However, 
this rule suspends the reporting requirements previously approved as 
they relate to small systems. The Agency believes that by eliminating 
this required monitoring in the years 1999 and 2000 and beyond, 
reporting requirements will be commensurately reduced for state and 
local entities affected. EPA estimates the reduction in burden hours to 
be 3,774 hours, accruing in a total savings of $106,000.

E. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., 
as amended by SBREFA, EPA generally is required to conduct a regulatory 
flexibility analysis describing the impact of the regulatory action on 
small entities as part of rulemaking. However, under section 605(b) of 
the RFA, if EPA certifies that the rule will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, EPA is not 
required to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis. Because this 
rule removes existing requirements and does not add any new 
requirements, pursuant to section 605(b) of the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act, 5 U.S.C. 605(b), the Administrator certifies that this rule will 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities and will in fact have a positive impact on them by reducing 
monitoring requirements in years 1999 and 2000 and beyond.

F. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act

    Under section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and 
Advancement Act, the Agency is required to use voluntary consensus 
standards in its regulatory activities unless doing so would be 
inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impractical. Voluntary 
consensus standards are technical standards (e.g., material 
specifications, test methods, sampling procedures, business practices, 
etc.) that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards 
bodies. Where available and potentially applicable voluntary consensus 
standards are not used by EPA, the Act requires the Agency to provide 
Congress, through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), an 
explanation for the reasons for not using such standards.
    Since this action establishes no technical standards, the 
requirements of this Act do not apply to today's action.

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G. Executive Order 12898--Federal Actions To Address Environmental 
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations

    Executive Order 12898--``Federal Actions to Address Environmental 
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations'' (February 
11, 1994) focuses federal attention on the environmental and human 
health conditions of minority populations and low-income populations 
with the goal of achieving environmental protection for all 
communities.
    EPA believes that the Agency will have sufficient data from the 
previous unregulated contaminant monitoring (three monitoring rounds by 
systems serving more than 10,000 persons, and two monitoring rounds by 
systems serving 10,000 or fewer persons) to enable it to conduct any 
assessments necessary for these populations.

H. Executive Order 12875--Enhancing the Intergovernmental Partnership

    Under Executive Order 12875, EPA may not issue a regulation that is 
not required by statute and that creates a mandate upon a State, local 
or tribal government, unless the Federal government provides the funds 
necessary to pay the direct compliance costs incurred by those 
governments, or EPA consults with those governments. If EPA complies by 
consulting, Executive Order 12875 requires EPA to provide to the Office 
of Management and Budget a description of the extent of EPA's prior 
consultation with representatives of affected State, local and tribal 
governments, the nature of their concerns, any written communications 
from the governments, and a statement supporting the need to issue the 
regulation. In addition, Executive Order 12875 requires EPA to develop 
an effective process permitting elected officials and other 
representatives of State, local and tribal governments ``to provide 
meaningful and timely input in the development of regulatory proposals 
containing significant unfunded mandates.''
    Today's rule does not create a mandate on State, local or tribal 
governments. The rule does not impose any enforceable duties on these 
entities. Accordingly, the requirements of section 1(a) of Executive 
Order 12875 do not apply to this rule.

I. Executive Order 13084--Consultation and Coordination With Indian 
Tribal Governments

    Under Executive Order 13084, EPA may not issue a regulation that is 
not required by statute, that significantly or uniquely affects the 
communities of Indian tribal governments, and that imposes substantial 
direct compliance costs on those communities, unless the Federal 
government provides the funds necessary to pay the direct compliance 
costs incurred by the tribal governments, or EPA consults with those 
governments. If EPA complies by consulting, Executive Order 13084 
requires EPA to provide to the Office of Management and Budget, in a 
separately identified section of the preamble to the rule, a 
description of the extent of EPA's prior consultation with 
representatives of affected tribal governments, a summary of the nature 
of their concerns, and a statement supporting the need to issue the 
regulation. In addition, Executive Order 13084 requires EPA to develop 
an effective process permitting elected officials and other 
representatives of Indian tribal governments ``to provide meaningful 
and timely input in the development of regulatory policies on matters 
that significantly or uniquely affect their communities.''
    This rule does not impose any enforceable duties or any compliance 
costs on Indian tribal governments. Thus, today's rule does not 
significantly or uniquely affect the communities of Indian tribal 
governments. Accordingly, the requirements of section 3(b) of Executive 
order 13084 do not apply to this rule.

J. Administrative Procedure Act

    EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because it views 
this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipate no adverse comment. 
However, in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of today's Federal Register 
publication, EPA is publishing a separate document that will serve as 
the proposal for the suspension of monitoring for unregulated 
contaminants by systems serving 10,000 or fewer persons if adverse 
comments are filed. This rule will be effective on March 9, 1999 
without further notice unless EPA receives adverse comment by February 
8, 1999. If EPA receives adverse comment, it will publish a timely 
withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule 
will not take effect. EPA will address all public comments in a 
subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. EPA will not 
institute a second comment period on this action. Any parties 
interested in commenting must do so at this time.

K. Congressional Review Act

    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally 
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating 
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, 
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the 
United States. EPA will submit a report containing this rule and other 
required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of 
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior 
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot 
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal 
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
804 (2). This rule will be effective on March 9, 1999 unless EPA 
receives adverse comment and withdraws this rule before that date.

V. Public Involvement in Regulation Development

    EPA's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water has developed a 
process for stakeholder involvement in its regulatory activities to 
provide early input to regulation development. Activities related to 
the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Program include specific 
meetings focused on revising the unregulated contaminant monitoring 
regulations to address the 1996 SDWA Amendments and the possibility of 
eliminating future monitoring under the existing unregulated 
contaminant monitoring regulation for systems serving 10,000 or fewer 
persons.
    OGWDW held its first stakeholder meeting to discuss options for the 
development of the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulation on 
December 2-3, 1997, in Washington, DC. A range of stakeholders attended 
that meeting, including representatives of public water systems, 
states, industry, health and laboratory organizations, and the public. 
OGWDW staff prepared a background document for that meeting, Options 
for Developing the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulation 
(Working Draft), EPA 815-D-97-003, November 1997. A summary of that 
meeting is also available. Prior to preparation of the UCMR regulation, 
EPA also held a second stakeholders meeting on June 3-4, 1998, to 
obtain input from interested on significant issues evolving from 
drafting the regulation that needed further public input. OGWDW staff 
prepared a public review document for that meeting, Background 
Information and Draft Annotated Outline for a Proposed Unregulated 
Contaminant Monitoring Regulation, Background Document,

[[Page 1498]]

(Working Draft), May 1998. A meeting summary is available.
    Both meetings addressed the option of suspending unregulated 
contaminant monitoring requirements for small public water systems. 
Subsequent discussions with environmental organizations identified 
their interest in having sufficient data to make regulatory decisions 
for the current list of unregulated contaminants. Based on the data EPA 
has from the first two monitoring rounds, EPA has made decisions 
whether or not to regulate these contaminants. The contaminants from 
this list selected for regulatory decisions are identified in the 
Contaminant Candidate List, published March 2, 1998 in the Federal 
Register (63 FR 10273). Additionally, the associations representing the 
water supply industry expressed their support for this regulation. They 
indicated that because the contaminants on the existing list are tested 
using the same methods for regulated organic chemical testing, the 
costs to test for additional contaminant should be minimal.
    In general, the result of this public input is support for 
eliminating existing unregulated contaminant monitoring requirements 
for systems serving 10,000 or fewer persons so they will not have to 
monitor for the existing list of unregulated contaminants in years 1999 
and 2000 or beyond.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 141

    Environmental protection, Indians--lands, Intergovernmental 
relations, Radiation protection, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Water supply.

    Dated: December 31, 1998.
Carol M. Browner,
Administrator.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, title 40 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations is amended as follows:

PART 141--NATIONAL PRIMARY DRINKING WATER REGULATIONS

    1. The authority citation for part 141 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 300f, 300g-1, 300g-2, 300g-3, 300g-4, 300g-
5, 300g-6, 300j-4, and 300j-9.

    2. Section 141.40 is amended by adding a sentence to the end of 
paragraph (l) to read as follows:


Sec. 141.40  Special monitoring for inorganic and organic contaminants.

* * * * *
    (1) * * * Systems serving 10,000 or fewer persons are not required 
to monitor for the contaminants in this section after December 31, 
1998.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 99-321 Filed 1-7-99; 8:45 am]
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