United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
4606
EPA 816-F-99-011
February 2001
Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions
Fact Sheet for State Primacy Agencies
We (the EPA) have made minor changes to the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) that was first published
in 1991. These Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions (LCRMR) took effect on
April 11, 2000. The LCRMR do not change the action levels of 0.015 milligrams
per liter (mg/L) for lead and 1.3 mg/L for copper. They also do not affect the
Rule's basic requirements to optimize corrosion control and, if appropriate, treat
source water, deliver public education, and replace lead service lines. In many
cases, the revisions reduce monitoring, reporting, public education, and other
requirements.
What Are the Changes to the Lead and Copper Rule?
The minor revisions to the LCR can be organized into 7 broad categories:
Demonstration of Optimal Corrosion Control
Monitoring and System Reporting
Analytical Methods
Public Education
Lead Service Line Replacement
State Recordkeeping and Reporting
Special Primacy Conditions
In this fact sheet, we have identified in each category the revisions that became effective on April 11, 2000 and must be
included in your drinking water regulations for you to maintain primacy. We ask that States submit complete and final
primacy revision applications by October, 2001 to ensure timely primacy revision; however, under the regulations,
applications are due by January 12, 2002. An extension of up to 2 additional years can be requested. We also identify
in each category, provisions that are less stringent than corresponding provisions in the 1991 LCR. You may choose to
adopt all or only a portion of these latter changes and the implementation time frame is also your choice. Some States
may be unable to allow water systems to take advantage of these provisions until they are adopted into State regulations.
This fact sheet summarizes the minor revisions.
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)
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* Revisions to Requirements for Demonstrating
Optimal Corrosion Control
Revisions Required to Be Implemented Beginning April 11, 2000
1. A system that has installed corrosion control treatment but is not required to conduct water
quality parameter (WQP) monitoring must continue to:
•• Properly operate and maintain corrosion control treatment at all times; and
•• Meet any requirements you deem are needed to ensure this treatment is maintained.
Note: These are not new requirements. They clarify provisions of the 1991 LCR.
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2. If prior to December 7, 1992, a system has completed treatment steps that are equivalent to those in the LCR, it
must:
• • Routinely monitor for WQPs after you designate optimal water quality parameters (OWQPs) (unless it serves
• '50,000people and no longer exceeds an action level); and
•• Continue lead and copper tap sampling.
Note: These are not new requirements. They clarify provisions of the 1991 LCR.
3.
A system that demonstrates that the difference between the 90th percentile lead level at the tap and the highest
concentration of lead in its source water is < 0.005 mg/L for two, consecutive 6-month periods (also known as a
(b)(3) system), must:
•• Collect a round of lead and copper tap samples between October 1, 1997 and September 30, 2000 at the
reduced number of sites and continue monitoring every 3 years thereafter;
•• Not exceed the copper action level after July 12, 2001; and
•• Begin corrosion control treatment steps if during any round of monitoring:
• • the difference between its 90th lead and source water levels is 0.005 mg/L or more, (and it serves more
than 50,000people); or
• • the system is above the lead action level (any size system); or
• • the system is above the copper action level on or after July 12, 2001 (any size system).
Note: Those systems, serving more than 50,000 people, that are triggered into corrosion control
treatment steps (for one of the 3 reasons listed above) must follow the corrosion control
treatment schedule for medium-size systems outlined in §141.81 (e), beginning with the
requirement to complete a corrosion control study. These systems must complete this study
within 18 months of the date they were triggered into the corrosion control treatment
requirements.
Fact Sheet for State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions
Page 2 of 10
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Revisions that You May Not Be Able to Implement Unless You Adopt Them
Definition of a (b)(3) system
If a system's source water lead levels are below the Method Detection Limit and its 90th percentile lead level
is • O.005 mg/L, you can deem the system to be optimized under §141.81(b)(3) (also known as a (b)(3)
system). This system 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 OWQPs
Compliance determinations are always based on a 6-month period, regardless of the system's
monitoring schedule (e.g., daily, biweekly, semi-annually, annually, triennially) or whether the sample
is from an entry point or tap.
Daily values are calculated for each WQP at each sampling location and are based on the sampling
frequency for that WQP and sampling point. Daily values are calculated even if no sampling has
occurred during the 6-month monitoring period being evaluated.
An excursion is any "daily value" for a WQP that is below the minimum value or outside the range of
OWQPs that you have established for the system.
Confirmation samples are no longer used. Systems must report the results of all samples collected
during the 6-month period.
Systems that have excursions for more than a total of 9 days during a 6-month period are in violation of
their OWQP requirements. The 9 days do not need to occur on consecutive days.
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, February 2001,
EPA815-R-99-019.
Fact Sheet for State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions
Page 3 of 10
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Revisions to Monitoring and Reporting Requirements
Revisions Required to Be Implemented Beginning April 11, 2000
1. A non-transient non-community water system (NTNCWS) or a community water system
(CWS) that does not have enough Tier 1, 2, or 3 sites, must use representative sites to
complete its sampling pool. A representative site is one that uses plumbing materials commonly found at other
sites to which the system provides water.
2. A system on reduced lead and copper tap monitoring must collect from sites that are representative of the ones it
has used during standard monitoring.
Note: You can specify where the system must collect these samples.
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3. A system on reduced lead and copper tap monitoring must notify you in writing within 60 days of changing its
treatment or adding a new source. This requirement also includes:
• *(b)(3) systems, or
• 'systems that have been granted a lead and copper tap 9-year monitoring waiver.
Note: You can require these systems to provide earlier notification or to undertake additional
steps to ensure optimal corrosion control treatment is maintained.
4. A system that composites source water samples, must resample if the composite sample is • O.001 mg/L for lead
and/or • 0.160 mg/L for copper.
Revisions that You May Not Be Able to Implement Unless You Adopt Them
Monitoring Flexibility and Reduced Monitoring
1. You may designate months other than June-September in which a system must conduct reduced lead and
copper monitoring. This alternate period cannot be longer than 4 consecutive months and must represent a
time of normal operation. For a CWS, this alternate period must occur when its lead levels are likely to be
highest.
2. You can allow an NTNCWS or a CWS that operates 24 hours a day, such as a prison or hospital, that does not
have enough taps that can supply first-draw lead and copper samples, to collect samples from taps with the
longest standing times, if:
• • it collects at least the minimum number of required samples; and
• • it identifies standing times and locations for any non-first-draw sample.
Note: You can require a system to receive prior approval of its sampling plan or
review the plan when the system submits its monitoring results.
Fact Sheet for State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 4 of 10
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Monitoring Flexibility and Reduced Monitoring (continued)
3. A system can conduct lead and copper tap monitoring once every 3 years without conducting interim rounds of
annual monitoring if its 90th percentile lead and copper levels are • -0.005 mg/1 and • O.65 mg/1, respectively,
for two consecutive 6-month monitoring periods. (This monitoring is also referred to as accelerated reduced
lead and copper tap monitoring.)
4. You can grant a 9-year monitoring waiver for lead and/or copper tap monitoring to a system if:
• • it serves 3,300 or fewer people;
• • its 90th percentile lead levels are • O.005 mg/L and/or its 90th percentile copper levels are • O.65 mg/L;
and
• • it meets plumbing materials criteria that demonstrate the risk from lead and/or copper exposure is
negligible.
You must notify the system of your waiver determination in writing, and include the basis of your decision and
any conditions for granting the waiver.
For more information on monitoring waivers, refer to:
Monitoring Waivers under The Lead and Copper Rule Minor
Revisions for Systems Serving 3,300 or Fewer People, April 2000,
EPA815-R-99-021.
5. You can invalidate a lead and copper tap water sample if it meets at least one of the sample invalidation
criteria below and the system provides supporting documentation:
• • there is laboratory error;
• • you determine that the sample was taken from an inappropriate site;
• • the sample was damaged in transit; and/or
• • you believe the sample was subject to tampering.
Note: You must document your sample invalidation decision and rationale in writing. A
system must collect replacement samples, if after the invalidation, it has too few samples
to meet the minimum sampling requirements. Replacement samples must be taken at the
same locations as the invalidated samples, or if that is not possible, at locations other
than those already used for sampling during the monitoring period.
6. A ground water system may limit biweekly WQP entry point monitoring to representative locations if it can
demonstrate that these sites are representative of water quality conditions throughout its system.
7. A system may proceed to triennial WQP tap monitoring without conducting the interim rounds of more
frequent monitoring if it is also eligible for accelerated reduced lead and copper tap water monitoring and it
meets its OWQPs for two consecutive monitoring periods.
8. A system that exceeds an action level may conduct source water monitoring on a reduced schedule if you have
determined that source water treatment is unnecessary and the system's source water lead levels are • O.005
mg/L and source water copper levels are • O.65 mg/L.
Fact Sheet for State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions
Page 5 of 10
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System Reporting Requirements
A system may no longer be required to:
1. Calculate and report its 90th percentile lead and copper levels if.
• • you have previously notified the system that you will perform this calculation;
• • the system has provided its sampling results and sampling site information to you by the date
you have specified (before the end of the monitoring period); and
• • you have provided the system with the results of the 90th percentile calculation before the end
of the monitoring period.
Note: You must allow yourself sufficient time to calculate the 90th percentile levels and report
them to the system before the end of the monitoring period. This will allow the system to
take any timely follow-up action in the event of an exceedance, such as WQP monitoring.
2. Submit certifications that samples were collected using proper sampling procedures.
3. Provide justifications if its sampling pool contains Tier 2 or 3 sites or an insufficient number of
sites served by LSLs.
4. Submit a written request for permission to monitor for lead and copper on a reduced schedule
after it meets its OWQPs. However, you still must provide written approval to the system before
it can begin reduced monitoring.
• Asvisions to Analytical Methods for Lead and Copper
Revisions that You May Not Be Able to Implement Unless You Adopt Them
1. The laboratory can decrease the time lead or copper samples must remain in their original
container after acidification and before the samples can be analyzed from 28 hours to 16 hours.
2. Laboratory certification procedures may be changed to conform with changes in the resampling
triggers for composite source water samples.
Fact Sheet for State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 6 of 10
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Nbvisions to Public Education Requirements
Revisions Required to Be Implemented Beginning April 11, 2000
Systems must report compliance with their public education requirements within 10 days after
each period in which these tasks were required. This means that systems that are required to
deliver public service announcements every 6 months, must submit two letters per year.
Note: You can allow a system to omit resubmitting the list of people and facilities to
which it provided public education materials if it certifies that this distribution list
has not changed from the previous list it provided to you.
Revisions that You May Not Be Able to Implement Unless You Adopt Them
Mandatory Public Education Language
1. You can allow systems to delete references to LSLs in their public education materials if they have no LSLs.
2. You can allow CWSs to modify public education language regarding building permit availability and consumer
access to these records, if those documents are not available.
3. You can allow NTNCWS to use alternative mandatory public education language that is more suited to their
type of system. You can also allow special-case CWSs to use the alternative mandatory public education
language provided for NTNCWSs.
Definition: A special-case CWS is a system, such as a prison or hospital, whose residents cannot make their
own plumbing improvements and are not billed separately for water.
Distribution of Public Education Materials
1. A CWS that serves 3,300 or fewer people can:
•• Omit the requirement to provide public service announcements to radio and TV stations.
•• Omit newspaper notification. (CWSs serving 501-3,300 people must have your prior approval.)
•• Limit distribution of pamphlets to facilities serving primarily pregnant women and children, unless you
require a broader distribution. (CWSs serving 501-3,300 people must have your prior approval.)
2. CWSs can mail public education materials separately from their bill.
3. NTNCWS can 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.
4. You can allow special-case CWSs to use the NTNCWS public education delivery requirements.
Fact Sheet for State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions
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ifead Service Line Replacement Requirements
Revisions Required to Be Implemented Beginning April 11, 2000
1. A system that is required to replace LSLs must:
•• Replace the part of the LSL that it owns and keep records that document what portions
of all LSLs it owns; and
•• Make an offer to the property owner to replace the privately-owned portion of the LSL.
2. A system that does not replace the entire LSL up to the building inlet (i.e., partial replacement), must do all of
the following:
•• 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.
Note: You can allow a shorter notification period if replacement is done
in conjunction with emergency repairs.
•• Collect at the system's expense a post-replacement sample that is representative of the lead content of water
in the service line within 72 hours of completing the partial LSL replacement.
•• Notify residents of analytical results by mail or posting within 3 business days of receiving the results.
•• Submit to you, the results of LSL samples following partial LSL replacement. You can eliminate the
requirement to report these sample results and/or require other information.
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, April 2000, EPA
815-R-99-022.
Fact Sheet for State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions
Page 8 of 10
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State Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements
State Reporting Requirements
The LCRMR require you to report the following information to EPA:
• • All 90th percentile lead levels for large and medium systems, and those 90th percentile lead levels above the
action level for small systems;
•• All 90th percentile levels above the copper action level for all system sizes;
••A more streamlined LSL replacement milestone;
••A milestone which indicates that a system has been deemed to optimize corrosion control; and
••A milestone which indicates that a system has completed all necessary and applicable treatment steps (i.e.,
optimization of corrosion control, source water treatment, LSL replacement).
The LCRMR specify the schedule for implementing the new reporting requirements.
•• You have the option of continuing to report the old LCR requirements until January 11, 2002.
•• You must only report in accordance with the new LCRMR requirements by January 12, 2002.
State Recordkeeping Requirements
The LCRMR add recordkeeping requirements that correspond to new decisions that you make pertaining to.
• • Additional actions required to maintain optimal corrosion control by systems on reduced lead and copper tap
monitoring that change treatment or add a new source of water;
•• Content of written public education materials and/or the distribution of these materials;
•• Use of non-first draw samples at systems that operate 24 hours a day;
•• Sampling locations for systems subject to reduced monitoring;
•• Alternative sample collection periods for systems subject to reduced monitoring;
•• Small system monitoring waivers, waiver recertifications, and waiver revocations;
•• Representative entry point locations at ground water systems;
•• Submission of information to demonstrate partial LSL replacement compliance; and
•• Resubmission of detailed documentation demonstrating completion of public education requirements.
Fact Sheet for State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 9 of 10
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Special Primacy Conditions
The LCRMR add three new primacy considerations.
•• You must specify how you will determine compliance with OWQPs when multiple samples are collected per
day at the same sampling location, if you choose to use a method other than averaging.
•• You must specify how you will verify the completion of partial LSL replacement activities.
•• If you plan to designate an alternative reduced lead and copper tap monitoring period for CWSs (one other
than June - September), you must indicate how you will determine an alternate period that represents a time
of normal operation when lead levels are likely to be their highest.
Fact Sheet for State Primacy Agencies: Lead and Copper Rule Minor Revisions Page 10 of 10
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