UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
                                                                              WSG97
                                                               Date Signed: July 7, 1997

MEMORANDUM

SUBJECT:   Delegation of Authorities Under Section 1445 of the 1996 Safe Drinking Water
             Act Amendments Regarding Issuance of Information Requests to Determine
             Compliance with the Act

FROM:      Brian J. Maas, Director
             Water Enforcement Division

TO:          Water Division Directors, Regions I - X
             Enforcement Division Directors, Regions I, II, VI &VIII
             Regional Counsels, Regions I - X

       The 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) include a provision for
information gathering which states:

       (B) Every person who is subject to a national primary drinking water regulation under
       section 1412 shall provide such information as the Administrator may reasonably require,
       after consultation with the State in which  such person is located if such State has primary
       enforcement responsibility for public water systems, on a case-by-case basis, to
       determine whether such person has acted  or is acting in compliance with this title.

       The current delegation of information gathering  authorities under SDWA section 1445 is
contained in Delegation 9-12. It is our opinion, with which the Office of General Counsel
(OGC) and the Office of Human Resources and Organizational Services has concurred, that the
current delegation 9-12 already includes the authorities in section 1445 of the 1996 amendments.
Therefore, the Regional Administrators are delegated authority to issue information requests
consistent with the new provision, and this authority may be redelegated.

       If you have  any questions regarding this delegation, please contact Ciannat Howett of my
staff at (202) 564-4031.

Attachment

cc:     Drinking Water Branch Chiefs
       PWS Enforcement Coordinators
       PWS ORC Contacts
       I Mei Chan, OHROS
       Jim Drummond, OGC

Norte: Attachment could not be located. For more information, please contact the EPA staff
       person mentioned in the  document.

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