815Z99001
Friday
January 8, 1999
Part VIH
Environmental
Protection Agency
40 CFR Part 141
Suspension of Unregulated Contaminant
Monitoring Requirements for Small Public
Water Systems; Final Rule and Proposed
Rule
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Federal'Register/Vol. 64. No. 5/Friday, January 8, 1999/Ruies and Regulations
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 2046Q.
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
in. 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 waref 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 nqt 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
State, Tribal and Territorial
Governments.
Industry
Municipalities
• Examples of potentially regulated entities
States, Territories, and Tribes that analyze water samples on behalf of public water systems required to
conduct such analysis; States, Territories, and Tribes that themselves operate community and nontran-
sient non-community water systems required to monitor.
Private operators of community and nontransient non-community water systems required to monitor
Municipal operators of community and nontransient non-community water systems required to monitor
SIC
9511
4941
9511
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
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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 Quly 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
Bromodichlbromethane
Bromoforrrr
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-Butyfbenzene
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
SOW A 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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Federal Register Vol. 64. No. 5/Friday, January 8, '1999/Rules and Regulations
(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 plannecl 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
subpopulatipn.
C. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
Title 11 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
adqpt 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 etseq., 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:
farmer.sandy@epamail.epa.gov, 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 erseq., 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 entitl >s,
EPA is not required to prepare a
regulatory flexibility analysis. Because
this rule removes existing requirements
and does not add ariy new requirements,
pursuant to section 60 5 (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 Transferand 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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1497
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 l(a) of Executive Order 12875 do
not apply to this rule.
/. 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 SOW A 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 81.5-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,
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(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-l, 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 (1) to read as follows:
§ 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 amj
BILLING CODE 5560-50-P
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1499
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 141
[FRL-6217-3]
Suspension of Unregulated
Contaminant Monitoring Requirements
for Small Public Water Systems
AGENCY: Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed 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. The
direct final rule concerns the
suspension of monitoring by small and
medium systems for monitoring
scheduled to begin after December 31,
1998. EPA is issuing these revisions
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.
In the "Rules and Regulations"
section of the Federal Register. EPA is
approving the modification to the
Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring
Regulation suspending monitoring by
systems serving 10,000 or fewer persons
as a direct final rule without prior
proposal because .EPA views this as a
noncontroversial revision and anticipate
no adverse comment. EPA has
explained our reasons for this approval
in the preamble to the direct final rule.
If EPA receives no adverse comment, it
will not take further action on this
proposed rule. If EPA receives adverse
comment, the Agency will withdraw the
direct final rule and it will not take
effect. EPA would then address all
public comments in a subsequent final
rule based on this proposed rule. EPA
will not institute a second comment
period on this action. Any parties
interested in commenting must do so at
this time.
DATES: Comments must-be received in
writing by February 8, 1999.
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 rulemaking
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: To ensure
that EPA can read, understand and
therefore properly respond to
comments, the Agency would prefer
that commenters cite, where possible,
the paragraph (s) or sections in the
notice or supporting documents to
which each comment refers.
Commenters should use a separate
paragraph for each issue discussed.
Commenters who want EPA to
acknowledge receipt of their comments
should enclose a self-addressed,
stamped envelope. No facsimiles (faxes)
will be accepted. Comments may also be
submitted electronically to ow-
ddcket@epamail.epa.gov. Electronic
comments must be submitted as an
ASCII file avoiding the use of special
characters and any form of encryption.
Electronic comments must be identified
by the docket number W-98-29.
Comments and data will also be
accepted on disks in WordPerfect in 5.1
format or ASCII file format. Electronic
comments on this document may be
filed online at many Federal Depository
Libraries.
This document concerns the
Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring
Regulation. For further information,
please see the information provided in
the direct final action that is located in
the "Rules and Regulations" section of
this Federal Register publication.
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.
[FR Doc. 99-322 Filed 1-7-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P •
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