[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 38 (Wednesday, February 26, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10752-10754]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-04171]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 141 and 142

[EPA-HQ-OW-2008-0878; FRL-9906-88-OW]


National Primary Drinking Water Regulations: Minor Corrections to 
the Revisions to the Total Coliform Rule

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: In this action, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is 
proposing minor corrections to the final Revisions to the Total 
Coliform

[[Page 10753]]

Rule (RTCR), as authorized under the Safe Drinking Water Act, to 
correct typographical errors in sections relating to recordkeeping and 
State primacy requirements, which could affect implementation and 
enforcement of the RTCR if they were left uncorrected. This proposed 
action also includes other edits to the final rule language that are 
intended to improve the understanding of the rule and avoid confusion. 
This proposed action does not impose new requirements; rather it 
clarifies what must be included in States' primacy applications related 
to this rule and the specific records water systems must keep. In the 
``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal Register, EPA is 
making these minor corrections and edits to the final RTCR as a direct 
final rule without a prior proposed rule. If we receive no adverse 
comment, we will not take further action on this proposed rule.

DATES: Written comments must be received by March 28, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2008-0878, by mail to Water Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, 
Mailcode: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460. 
Comments may also be submitted electronically or through hand delivery/
courier by following the detailed instructions in the ADDRESSES section 
of the direct final rule located in the rules section of this Federal 
Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sean Conley, Standards and Risk 
Management Division, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (MC-
4607M), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-1781; email address: 
[email protected]. For general information, contact the Safe Drinking 
Water Hotline, telephone number: (800) 426-4791. The Safe Drinking 
Water Hotline is open Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays, 
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Why is EPA issuing this proposed rule?

    EPA is proposing minor corrections to the final Revisions to the 
Total Coliform Rule (RTCR) to correct typographical errors in sections 
relating to recordkeeping and State primacy requirements, which could 
affect implementation and enforcement of the RTCR if left uncorrected. 
This proposed action also includes other edits to the final rule 
language that are intended to improve the understanding of the rule and 
avoid confusion. This proposed action does not impose new requirements; 
rather it clarifies what must be included in States' primacy 
applications related to this rule and the specific records water 
systems must keep.

II. Regulated Categories and Entities

    Entities potentially regulated by the proposed corrections to the 
final RTCR are all public water systems (PWSs). Regulated categories 
and entities include the following:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Category                  Examples of regulated entities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Industry.............................  Privately-owned community water
                                        systems (CWSs), transient non-
                                        community water systems
                                        (TNCWSs), and non-transient non-
                                        community water systems
                                        (NTNCWSs).
Federal, State, Tribal, and local      Publicly-owned CWSs, TNCWSs, and
 governments.                           NTNCWSs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This table is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a 
guide for readers regarding entities regulated by this action. This 
table lists the types of entities that EPA is now aware of that could 
potentially be regulated by this action. Other types of entities not 
listed in the table could also be regulated. To determine whether your 
facility is regulated by this action, you should carefully examine the 
definition of ``public water system'' in Sec.  141.2 and the section 
entitled ``Coverage'' in Sec.  141.3 in title 40 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR), and the applicability criteria in Sec.  141.851(b) 
of the final RTCR. 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.

C. Copies of This Document and Other Related Information

    This document is available for download at http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/tcr/regulation_revisions.cfm. For other 
related information, see the docket section of the direct final rule 
located in the rules section of this Federal Register.

D. Minor Corrections to the Revisions to the Total Coliform Rule (RTCR)

    Today's proposed rule corrects, as authorized under the Safe 
Drinking Water Act (SDWA), two typographical errors in the final RTCR 
(78 FR 10269, February 13, 2013) rule language. First, this proposed 
action corrects a mistaken cross-reference regarding water system 
recordkeeping requirements for assessment forms and documentation of 
corrective actions and sanitary defects. EPA is correcting the cross-
reference at Sec.  141.861(b)(1) to correctly provide that assessments, 
corrective actions and identification of sanitary defects are required 
under the treatment technique requirements of section 141.859 of the 
final RTCR. The burden for these recordkeeping requirements was 
reflected in the Revised Total Coliform Rule and in section 7 of the 
Economic Analysis (EA) for the Revised Total Coliform Rule (EPA-815-R-
12-004).
    EPA also discussed these requirements in the preamble to the final 
RTCR on page 10295. Second, today's proposed rule also corrects the 
introductory paragraph at Sec.  142.16(q)(2) to correctly indicate that 
the State's application for primacy must contain a written description 
of all provisions included in the subsections of the paragraph, 
(q)(2)(i) through (q)(2)(ix). It was always EPA's intent that primacy 
applications must contain a written description of all provisions in 
142.16(q)(2), but when EPA added subparagraph (q)(2)(ix) to the final 
rule, EPA neglected to change the numbering in the paragraph (2) lead-
in to the list of elements. EPA intended this to be the case, as 
demonstrated in the preamble to the final RTCR on page 10301. In 
addition, the burden for this State activity was also included in 
section 7 of the Economic Analysis (EA) for the RTCR. EPA is not 
developing a new EA for today's action because the EA for the final 
RTCR accounts for all costs associated with this rule.
    Today's proposed rule also corrects the numbering in Sec.  
141.855(a) by adding subparagraph (d)(2) and reserving it, to most 
simply correct a numbering error that identified a subparagraph (d)(1) 
without a subsequent (d)(2). Correcting the numbering in this fashion 
will not interfere with any cross references to subparagraph (d)(1).

[[Page 10754]]

    Today's proposed rule also includes clarifying revisions to the 
language regarding primacy applications in Sec.  142.16(q)(2)(ii) to 
make it more clear in the special primacy requirements section of the 
RTCR that systems must implement at least one of listed additional 
criteria to qualify for reduced monitoring. EPA clearly intended this 
to be the case, as reflected in Sec.  141.854(h)(2) for NCWSs and Sec.  
141.855(d) for CWSs, and in the preamble to the final RTCR at pages 
10281 and 10282.
    Next, the final rule clarifies situations requiring public 
notification in Appendix A to Subpart Q of Part 141 to list out all of 
the possible reporting violations under the RTCR that will require Tier 
3 public notice. EPA clearly intended this to be the case, as reflected 
in item (6) in Table 1 to Sec.  141.204 (Violation Categories and Other 
Situations Requiring a Tier 3 Public Notice), which provides that all 
reporting and recordkeeping violations under the RTCR require Tier 3 
public notice. Also, page 10294 of the preamble to the final RTCR 
clearly states that Tier 3 PN is required for both monitoring and 
reporting violations under the RTCR.
    Finally, the final rule clarifies the analytical methods table in 
Sec.  141.852(a)(5) to place the citation ``Standard Methods Online 
9223 B-97'' for the Colilert analytical method in the correct column.
    These revisions do not change any rule requirements, are consistent 
with the rule requirements as intended by the Total Coliform Rule/
Distribution System Advisory Committee that recommended the revisions 
to the Total Coliform Rule, and are intended only to clarify 
requirements and reduce confusion.

II. Additional Supplementary Information

    We are publishing a Direct Final Rule to this parallel proposal in 
the final rule section of today's Federal Register. Additional 
supplementary information is available in the Direct Final Rule, 
``National Primary Drinking Water Regulation: Minor Corrections to the 
Revisions to the Total Coliform Rule.''

    Dated: February 10, 2014.
Gina McCarthy,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2014-04171 Filed 2-25-14; 8:45 am]
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