DRAFT
&EFA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
4606
EPA 816-F-00-010
March 2000
Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions
Fact Sheet for Large Water System Owners and
Operators
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
has made minor changes to
the Lead and Copper Rule
(LCR), which was first
published in 1991. These
minor revisions (also known as the Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions or LCRMR) take effect on April 11, 2000.
They reduce many monitoring and reporting requirements, and promote consistent national implementation by clarifying
some of the original requirements that were intended by EPA. They do not change the LCR's action levels of 0.015
milligrams per liter (mg/L) for lead and 1.3 mg/L for copper or its Maximum Contaminant Level Goals of 0 mg/L for lead
and 1.3 mg/L for copper. The revisions do not affect the LCR's basic requirements to optimize corrosion control and, if
appropriate, treat source water, educate the public, and replace lead service lines.
What Are the Changes to the Lead and Copper Rule?
The changes brought about by the LCRMR fall into four broad categories:
Demonstrating optimal corrosion control
Monitoring and reporting
Public education
Lead service line replacement
In this fact sheet, we have identified for each category 1) the revisions that you must begin complying with on April 11,
2000 and 2) the revisions that you cannot implement unless and until they are adopted by your State and incorporated into
your State's drinking water regulations. Check with your State Primacy Agency to determine when and if
provisions that depend on State adoption can be implemented in your State.
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V..
This fact sheet summarizes your requirements.
For the actual regulatory requirements, refer to:
Federal Register, Vol. 65, No. 8. Drinking Water Regulations;
Maximum Contaminant Level Goals and National Primary
Drinking Water Regulations for Lead and Copper; Final Rule;
(Wed., Jan 12, 2000)
Revisions to Requirements for Demonstrating Optimal
Corrosion Control
You Must Begin Complying with These Requirements on April 11, 2000
Procedure Under The Original
Lead and Copper Rule of 1991
The LCR does not specifically state the continuing
monitoring requirements if you are deemed to have
optimized corrosion control under §141.81(b)(2) (also
known as a (b)(2) system).
Definition: A (b)(2) system is one that has completed
treatment steps that are equivalent to those described in
the 1991 LCR prior to December 7, 1992.
Procedure Under The Lead and
Copper Rule Minor Revisions
The LCRMR clarify that if you are a (b)(2) system, you
must:
routinely monitor for water quality parameters
(WQPs) after your State designates optimal water
quality parameters (OWQPs); and
continue lead and copper tap and WQP sampling.
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The LCR is unclear on the continuing monitoring
requirements if you are deemed to have optimized
corrosion control under §141.81(b)(3) (also known as a
(b)(3) system).
Definition: A (b)(3) system is one that can show that the
difference between the 90th percentile lead level at the tap
and the highest lead concentration in its source water is
less than 0.005 milligrams per liter (mg/L) for two
consecutive 6-month periods.
The LCRMR clarify that if you are a (b)(3) system, but
are not required to conduct WQP monitoring, you must
continue to properly operate and maintain corrosion control
treatment at all times.
If you are a (b)(3) system, LCRMR also require you to:
collect a round of lead and copper samples from the
taps at the reduced number of sites between
October 1, 1997 and September 30, 2000 and
continue monitoring every 3 years thereafter.
not exceed the copper action level after July 12,
2001
begin taking corrosion control treatment steps if
during any round of monitoring:
the difference between your 90th percentile lead
level at the tap and the lead level in your source
water is 0.005 mg/L or higher, or
you exceed the lead action level, or
you exceed the copper action level on or after
April 11, 2000.
Note: If you must begin corrosion control treatment for any of
the 3 reasons listed above, you must follow the schedule for
medium-size systems outlined in §141.81 (e) beginning -with the
requirement to complete a corrosion control study. Please refer
to the table below for more detail.
Water System Corrosion Control Treatment (CCT) Schedule under§141.81(e)
Requirement
Conduct Corrosion Control Study
Install CCT
Conduct follow-up lead and copper tap and WQP
monitoring
Deadline
18 months after being triggered into CCT
requirements
Within 24 months after State designates CCT
Within 30 months after State designates CCT
Revisions That Depend on State Adoption
Definition of a (b)(3) system
Procedure Under The Original
Lead and Copper Rule of 1991
The State cannot deem that you are optimized under
§141.81(b)(3) if your source water lead levels are below
the Method Detection Limit and your 90th percentile lead
level at the tap is < 0.005 mg/L.
Procedure Under The Lead and
Copper Rule Minor Revisions
If your source water lead levels are below the Method
Detection Limit (of 0.005 mg/L) and your 90th percentile
lead level at the tap is < 0.005 mg/L, the State may
determine that you are a (b)(3) system. You would then
be subject to the requirements for (b)(3) systems that are
discussed on page 2 of this fact sheet.
Changes in the Procedures for Assessing Compliance with Optimal Water Quality Parameters (OWQPs)
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Daily values are not used to determine compliance.
You are out of compliance if at any time the results of any
WQP sample are below the minimum value or outside the
range of values designated by the State.
You are allowed to take a confirmation sample within 3
days of the original sample. If you collect a confirmation
sample, the results of the original sample and the
confirmation sample are averaged to determine
compliance.
"Daily values" are now used to determine compliance.
Daily values are the sample results for each WQP and are
calculated for each WQP at each sampling location. They
are based on the sampling frequency for that WQP and
sampling point.
You are only out of compliance if you have an "excursion"
for more than a total of 9 days during a 6-month period.
An excursion is any "daily value" for a WQP that is below
the minimum value or outside the range of OWQPs set by
the State.
Compliance determinations are always based on a 6-
month period, regardless of your monitoring schedule (e.g.,
daily, biweekly, semi-annually, annually, triennially) or
whether the sample is from an entry point or tap.
Confirmation samples are no longer used. You must report
the results of all samples collected during the 6-month
period.
For more information on this new OWQP compliance procedure, refer to:
How to Determine Compliance with Optimal Water Quality Parameters
as Revised by the Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions, January
2000, EPA 815-R-99-019.
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Revisions to Monitoring and Reporting Requirements
You Must Begin Complying with these Requirements on April 11, 2000
Procedure Under The Original
Lead and Copper Rule of 1991
The LCR is unclear that if you do not have enough "high-
risk" sites (i.e., Tier 1, 2, or 3 sites) that you are still
required to collect the minimum number of tap samples.
The LCR does not specify which sites to use for reduced
lead and copper tap monitoring.
The LCR does not require you to notify your State if you
change your treatment or add a new source.
If you composite your source water samples, you must
take the samples again if the composite sample's levels
are >0.001 mg/L for lead, or >0.001 mg/L or >0.020 mg/L
(depending on the analytical method) for copper.
Procedure Under The Lead and
Copper Rule Minor Revisions
If you do not have enough Tier 1, 2, or 3 sites, you must
use representative sites to meet minimum sampling
requirements. A site is representative if its plumbing is
similar to that of other sites in your system.
If you are on reduced lead and copper tap monitoring (i.e.,
less frequently than every 6 months), you must collect
from sites that are representative of the ones you used
during standard monitoring. (Your State may specify
where to collect these samples.)
If you are on reduced lead and copper tap monitoring, you
must notify your State in writing no later than 60 days
after changing treatment or adding a new source. You are
also subject to this requirement if you are deemed to have
optimized corrosion control under §141.81(b)(3).Your
State may require that you provide earlier notification or
undertake additional steps to ensure that optimal corrosion
control treatment is maintained.
The resampling trigger for composite samples has been
revised to >0.001 mg/L for lead and >0.160 mg/L for
copper.
Revisions That Depend on State Adoption
Monitoring Requirements
Procedure Under The Original
Lead and Copper Rule of 1991
You are required to conduct reduced lead and copper
monitoring only during the months of June to September.
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Oiftlb
Procedure Under The Lead and
Copper Rule Minor Revisions
Your State may allow you to conduct reduced lead and
copper monitoring during months other than June to
September.
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Revisions That Depend on State Adoption
You are required to collect first-draw lead and copper
samples, regardless of whether you have enough taps that
can supply first-draw samples.
If you are either a non-transient non-community water
system (NTNCWS), or a community water system
(CWS) that operates 24 hours a day, such as a prison or
hospital, and you do not have enough taps that can supply
first-draw lead and copper samples, your State may allow
you to collect samples from the taps that have the longest
standing times.
Monitoring Requirements (Continued)
Procedure Under The Original
Lead and Copper Rule of 1991
You are required to conduct 3 consecutive years of
monitoring before reducing your monitoring frequency to
once every 3 years (triennial).
Sample invalidation is not allowed.
You are required to take WQP samples at all of your
entry points.
Before being allowed to conduct triennial WQP tap
monitoring, you must be in compliance with your OWQPs
for four consecutive years.
Procedure Under The Lead and
Copper Rule Minor Revisions
You can reduce your lead and copper tap water
monitoring to once every 3 years after monitoring for only
two consecutive 6-month monitoring periods if your 90th
percentile levels are 0.005 mg/L for lead and 0.65
mg/L for copper. (This is also known as accelerated
reduced monitoring).
You can ask your State to invalidate lead and copper tap
water samples if the samples meet at least one of the
criteria below and you provide documentation that
supports your request:
There is a laboratory error.
The sample was damaged in transit.
The State determines that the sample was taken
from an inappropriate site.
The State believes the sample was subject to
tampering.
Note: If you do not have enough valid samples after
the State invalidates your sample(s), you must
collect enough replacement samples to meet
the minimum sampling requirements.
You may limit biweekly WQP entry point monitoring to
representative locations if:
you are a ground water system; and
you can demonstrate to the State that these sites are
representative of water quality conditions in your
system.
You may proceed to triennial WQP tap monitoring more
rapidly than before if you are also eligible for accelerated
reduced lead and copper tap water monitoring and you are
in compliance with your OWQPs.
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Revisions That Depend on State Adoption
If you exceed an action level but are not required to install
source water treatment, you are not allowed to reduce
your source water monitoring.
You may conduct source water monitoring once every 9
years if you exceed an action level, and if:
your source water levels are 0.005 mg/L for lead
and 0.65 mg/L for copper; and
your State has determined that source water
treatment is unnecessary.
Reporting Requirements
X§R/^ Procedure Under The Original
^J/ Lead and Copper Rule off 1991
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Procedure Under The Lead and
Copper Rule Minor Revisions
You are always required to calculate and report your 90th
percentile lead and copper levels to your State.
You are required to certify that you followed proper
sampling procedures or that homeowners collected
samples after receiving proper instructions.
You are required to provide justifications if your sampling
pool contains Tier 2 or Tier 3 sites or an insufficient
number of sites served by lead service lines (LSLs).
You are required to request in writing your State's
permission to monitor for lead and copper on a reduced
schedule after you meet your OWQPs.
You may no longer be required to calculate and report
your 90th percentile lead and copper levels if:
your State has notified you that it will perform this
calculation;
you provided your sampling results and sampling site
information by the State-specified date, and
your State gave you the results of the 90th percentile
calculation before the end of the monitoring period.
You are no longer required to submit these certifications.
You are no longer required to provide these justifications.
You are no longer required to provide a written request for
reduced lead and copper tap monitoring, but you still must
receive written approval from your State before you can
begin reduced monitoring.
Revisions to Public Education Requirements
You Must Begin Complying with These Requirements on April 11, 2000
Procedure Under The Original
Lead and Copper Rule of 1991
Procedure Under The Lead and
Copper Rule Minor Revisions
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You are required to submit a letter to the State
demonstrating that you met your public education
requirements. This letter is due by December 31 of the
year in which you must perform public education.
As part of your annual compliance letter, you were
required to provide a list of newspapers, radio stations, TV
stations, and organizations to which you provided public
education during the year.
You must submit a letter to the State demonstrating that
you met your public education requirements within 10 days
after each period in which these tasks were required. This
means that if you are required to deliver public service
announcements (PSAs) every 6 months, you must submit
two letters per year.
Your State may allow you to forego resubmitting the list of
organizations and facilities to which you provided public
education materials if you certify that this list is no
different than the previous distribution list you provided to
the State.
Revisions That Depend on State Adoption
y^?v? Procedure Under The Original
^7 Lead and Copper Rule of 1991
I L«j-ni
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Procedure Under The Lead and
Copper Rule Minor Revisions
Mandatory Public Education Language
You are required to include information about LSLs, even
if your system has no LSLs.
You are not allowed to modify language regarding the
availability of building permits and consumer access to
these records.
All CWSs and NTNCWSs are required to use the same
language provided by EPA.
You can delete references to LSLs in your public
education materials if you have no LSLs and you obtain
approval from your State.
If you are a CWS, you can modify public education
language regarding building permit availability and
consumer access to these records, if those documents are
not available. You must have permission from your State
to modify this language.
If you are a NTNCWS, you may use alternative
mandatory public education language that is more suited to
your type of system. (Your State may require you to
obtain approval.)
If you are a certain type of CWS, such as a prison or
hospital, whose residents cannot make their own plumbing
improvements and are not billed separately for water, you
can use the alternative mandatory public education
language provided for NTNCWSs. (Your State may
require you to obtain approval.)
Distribution of Public Education Materials
You are required to enclose your public education
materials in the customers' regular water bills.
If you are a CWS, you can mail public education materials
separately from your bill.
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Revisions That Depend on State Adoption
If you are an NTNCWS, you can only post information
and distribute pamphlets; you cannot use e-mail to
distribute public education information.
All CWSs are required to:
Insert notices in the water bill
Submit information to newspapers
Distribute pamphlets
Broadcast information via TV and radio
If you are an NTNCWS, you may use internal e-mail
systems instead of using printed materials to distribute
public education materials, as long as this achieves at least
the same coverage.
If you are a certain type of CWS, such as a prison or
hospital, whose residents cannot make their own plumbing
improvements and are not billed separately for water, you
may follow the NTNCWS public education delivery
requirements. (Your State may require you to obtain
approval.)
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Revisions to Lead Service Line Replacement
Requirements
You Must Begin Complying with These Requirements on April 11, 2000"
Procedure Under The Original
Lead and Copper Rule of 1991
There is no specific required deadline to provide
notification of partial replacement. Partial replacement
occurs when you do not replace the entire LSL up to the
building inlet.
For each resident served by a partially replaced line, you
must offer to collect and analyze a first-flush tap sample,
after you complete the partial replacement. This sample
will be collected at the tap of each resident that accepts
your offer.
If resident(s) accept your offer, you must collect the
sample(s) and report results to the resident(s) within 14
days following the partial line replacement.
You must report the sample results to residents.
You are not required to report any information to the State
that demonstrates that you met your partial LSL
requirements.
The 1991 rule does not specify how to notify users that
you are replacing a portion of a line and of the sample
results.
Procedure Under The Lead and
Copper Rule Minor Revisions
You must notify residents at least 45 days before partial
replacement that lead levels may increase temporarily
following the replacement and provide guidance on the
measures they can take to minimize exposure to lead. If
your line replacement is in conjunction with emergency
repairs, however, your State may allow a shorter time
frame for this notification.
You must collect at your expense one representative
service line sample for each replaced LSL within 72 hours
of removing the line. You are not required to collect
samples for each affected resident.
You must collect the sample within 72 hours of completing
the partial replacement and report the results within 3
business days of receiving the results.
You must report to the building owner(s) and the
resident(s) served by the partially replaced line.
You must submit these monitoring results to the State
within the first 10 days of the month following that in
which you receive the results. The LCRMR give States
the option to modify reporting requirements, however, so
you need to check with your State to be sure of your
specific requirements.
You must notify residents by mail. For multi-family
dwellings, however, you can post the notification in a
conspicuous common-use area of the building.
*The LCRMR require you to offer to replace, at the building owner's expense, the portion of the LSL owned by the building owner,
unless this is prohibited by local law.
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For more information on partial lead service line
notification and reporting requirements, refer to:
Notification and Reporting Requirements for Partial Lead Service
Line Replacement under the Lead and Copper Rule, January 2000,
EPA 815-R-99-022.
Where Can I Obtain More Information About the LCRMR?
State or EPA Regional Office
You can contact the EPA Region responsible for implementing the Safe Drinking
Water Act for your systems. A list of contacts in each EPA Regional office is
provided on the next page.
Other Guidance Documents
Lead and Copper Rule: Compliance Dates, January 2000, EPA 815-R-99-020. This
document helps you understand when you must begin complying with the new
requirements of the LCRMR. This guidance contains a discussion of each of the important
changes made to the 1991 Rule by the LCRMR by major rule section (i.e., §141.81,
§141.82, §§141.84-141.90, and §141.43), and identifies when you must begin complying
with the new requirements. It also contains an appendix which compares the rule language
of the LCR against the minor revisions.
You can obtain any of the guidance documents listed in this fact sheet from the Safe
Drinking Water Hotline, the Water Resource Center (202-260-7786 or e-mail at
center.water resource@epa.gov), or the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water
web page at www.epa.gov/safewater/standards.html.
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Safe Drinking Water Hotline
You can call the SAFE DRINKING WATER HOTLINE at 1-800-426-4791. It is open
Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., ET, excluding Federal holidays. The Hotline can
provide you with a list of other documents that pertain to the LCR and to the minor revisions.
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EPA Regional Offices
EPA Region 1
Associate Director for Drinking Water
Policy
One Congress Street
Suite 1100
Boston, MA 02114-2023
(617)918-1571
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New
Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
EPA Region 2
Water Programs Branch
290 Broadway
New York, NY 10007-1866
(212) 637-3826
New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Virgin
Islands
EPA Region 3
Drinking Water Branch
1650 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103-2029
(800) 438-2474 (Customer Service Hotline)
Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia,
West Virginia, District of Columbia
EPA Region 4
Ground Water/Drinking Water Branch
61 Forsyth Street, S.W.
Atlanta, GA 30303-3415
(404) 562-9424
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,
Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee
EPA Region 6
Source Water
Protection Branch
1445 Ross Avenue
Dallas, TX 75202
(214) 665-7150
Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico,
Oklahoma,
Texas
EPA Region 7
Drinking Water Branch
901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, KS 66101
(913)551-7032
Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska
EPA Region 8
Municipal Systems Unit
999 18th Street
Denver, CO 80202
(303)312-7021
Colorado, Montana,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah,
Wyoming
EPA Region 9
Drinking Water Office
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 744-1843
Arizona, California, Hawaii,
Nevada, American Samoa, Guam,
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands
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EPA Region 5
Safe Drinking Water Branch
77 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60604
(800)621-8431
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio,
Wisconsin
EPA Region 10
Drinking Water Unit
1200 Sixth Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
(206)553-1890
Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington
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