UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WSG24
Date Signed: January 25, 1985
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: Water Supply Guidance
Direct Implementation Programs 4 Programmatic Issues
FROM: Victor J. Kimm, Director
Office of Drinking Water (WH-550)
TO: Holders of Water Supply Guidance Compendium
Thank you for your comments on the draft water supply guidance sent to your offices for
review on October 25 (Trax memo - Request for Comments - Proposed Water Supply Guidance).
Because of your comments we made several changes to the proposed guidance particularly
relating to format.
Hope you had a good Holiday!
Attachment
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DIRECT IMPLEMENTATION
PROGRAM POLICY & GUIDANCE
A. PROGRAM RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM VERSUS THE
PRIMACY AGENT
POLICY:
IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM TO COMPLY
WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT AND THE
NATIONAL INTERIM PRIMARY DRINKING WATER REGULATIONS.
IT IS THE PRIMACY AGENT'S RESPONSIBILITY TO FOLLOW-UP ON
INCIDENTS OF PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM NON-COMPLIANCE AND PROVIDE
TIMELY ENFORCEMENT IF THE PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM FAILS TO MEET ITS
OBLIGATIONS.
UNDER CONDITIONS WHERE THE INABILITY OF THE WATER SYSTEM TO
PROPERLY MONITOR COULD COMPROMISE THE PUBLIC HEALTH IT MAY BE
APPROPRIATE FOR THE PRIMACY AGENT TO TEMPORARILY PERFORM
SOME OR ALL OF THE REQUIRED SAMPLE COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS.
Guidance:
The Safe Drinking Water Act clearly states it is the responsibility of the public water
system to provide "safe" drinking water and comply with the National Interim Primary Drinking
Water Regulations (NIPDWR). All EPA drinking water programs in non-primacy States should
be implemented in a way that recognizes that it is the public water system's responsibility to
comply with the SDWA and NIPDWR's.
It is the primacy agent's responsibility to follow-up on incidents of non-compliance and to
provide timely public notification and enforcement if the public water system fails to meet its
obligation. Each primacy agent should develop an enforcement strategy which outlines when and
what types of non-compliance trigger an enforcement action. The strategy should outline the
appropriate primacy agent response.
Some public water systems, because of their size, economic condition and other
constraints, are not able to adequately perform all the routine monitoring or any required special
monitoring that may be appropriate to protect the public health. This is particularly true when
contaminants other than the traditional contaminants (i.e. VOC's, SOC's) must be investigated by
sampling and analysis.
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If the inability of the water system to properly and adequately monitor compromises the
public health, it may be appropriate for the Federal or State primacy agent to perform some or all
of the required sample collection and analyses. This posture on the part of the primacy agent
should not be allowed to become the status quo, nor should it be applied to systems capable of
performing the required monitoring. Rather, it should be viewed as a temporary solution. All
monitoring/analytical assistance given by the primacy agent should be linked with technical
assistance activities to move the public water systems toward self-sufficiency. It is important that
all activities of the primacy agent foster maximum self-sufficiency by public water systems.
If a public water system becomes recalcitrant in moving towards self-sufficiency, the primacy
agent should use enforcement, along with technical assistance as a tool to ensure the public water
system fully complies with the NIPDWR's and the self-monitoring goal of the SDWA. The
primacy agent should enforce against those public water systems whose progress towards self-
sufficiency has slowed in spite of receiving technical assistance and refuses to fully comply
with monitoring or reporting requirements.
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B. RESOURCE UTILIZATION
POLICY:
FEDERAL RESOURCES SHOULD BE ALLOCATED FIRST TO THOSE
ACTIVITIES SPECIFICALLY MANDATED BY THE SAFE DRINKING WATER
ACT AND SECONDARILY, FOR ACTIVITIES REQUIRED TO ACCOMPLISH THE
GOALS OF THE ACT.
ACTIONS NOT SPECIFICALLY MANDATED OR REQUIRED ARE APPROPRIATE
ACTIVITIES IF THEY SUPPORT THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND SYSTEM SELF-
SUFFICIENCY GOALS OF THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT.
Guidance:
Because resources are limited and thus prevent accomplishing all desired program
activities, Headquarters and each Region must cooperate to establish priorities. Each Region
should ensure that resources are dedicated first for activities specifically mandated by the SDWA
and secondly, those that support and enhance the primacy agent's implementation. The
Implementation Regulations outline a number of activities primacy agents should undertake to
enhance the primacy agent's implementation.
SDWA Mandated Activities: Section 1413 of the SDWA outlines the requirements for
State primacy. These same requirements also apply when the primacy agent is an EPA
Region. In addition, Section 1442 encourages EPA technical assistance to encourage
State primacy assumption. These activities are:
Develop adequate enforcement and inspection procedures;
Keep records/make reports;
Issue variances and exemptions;
Develop and maintain emergency plans;
Give technical assistance to states to develop and establish Federally approved
drinking water programs.
Implementation Regulation Activities: In addition to SDWA mandated activities, Section
142.10 of the Implementation Regulations outlines additional activities primacy agents should do
to support the goals of the SDWA. They are:
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Maintain an inventory;
Develop a program of sanitary surveys with priority given to non-
complying systems;
Certify laboratories;
Develop and maintain a quality assurance program;
Conduct plan/design review; and
Enforce against non-complying systems.
Additional Activities: In addition to the above activities, it may be appropriate for the
primacy agent to undertake several other activities to support either the public health goal
of the Act or its mandated activities. These are:
Monitor unregulated contaminants;
Train water supply operators and regulatory personnel;
Develop effective communications with water supply operators and
regulatory agencies; and
Manage data.
There is a base level of effort that must occur in each Region to ensure that the overall
program will be effective. In particular, Regions should ensure that the amount of resources
dedicated to base level activities are sufficient to encourage voluntary compliance by public
water systems. The ODW encourages regional flexibility to determine which activities to pursue
above the base. If the Program Office elects to direct resources away from mandatory and
required activities, it should demonstrate that the diversion was necessary to better protect the
public health.
The degree to which the above activities utilize available resources will depend upon
system compliance rates, State cooperation and the training/education needs of system operators.
The ODW will consider these factors, to the extent possible, when developing the resource
distribution models. At the national level, the degree to which these highest priority activities
utilize available resources will be considered when developing budget proposals.
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C. APPROPRIATE FOLLOW-UP TO MONITORING RESULTS
POLICY:
IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PRIMACY AGENT TO IMMEDIATELY
RESPOND TO ALL VIOLATIONS AND POTENTIAL VIOLATIONS WHICH HAVE
ACUTE HEALTH SIGNIFICANCE.
IF THE PRIMACY AGENT MONITORS OR PARTICIPATES IN A SURVEY FOR
UNREGULATED CONTAMINANTS, IT SHOULD PROVIDE APPROPRIATE
FOLLOW-UP TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC HEALTH.
Guidance:
One of the goals of the SDWA is the protection of public health through the provision of
safe drinking water. Primacy agents and individual public water systems measure progress
towards this goal through monitoring for drinking water contaminants and reporting compliance.
Primacy agents should respond to violations in a timely manner, particularly those violations
with acute health significancei/ as well as any preliminary compliance monitoring results which
may have a "potential1^/ acute health significance.
I/ For a list of violations which have acute health significance see "Public Water Systems
Compliance Policy," Office of Water, U.S. EPA, January 18, 1984.
2/ Because some Regions determine compliance quarterly and PWS's monitor monthly, a
positive microbiological sample may not be determined as a violation for several months.
For purposes of this Policy, "potential" refers to any positive microbiological result.
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It is likewise important that the primacy agent respond to monitoring results from
unregulated contaminants which have a public health significance. At a minimum, the primacy
agent should be sure that the public water system is aware of the "potential" violation, knows the
appropriate steps it must take to protect the health of its consumers, and complies with follow-up
monitoring requirements.
While the absence of contaminants in a sample does not mean the water is safe, the
presence of a contaminant in excess of the MCL conveys a possible risk of an adverse health
effect to consumers. This possible risk is sufficient justification for the primacy agent to require
follow-up monitoring and tracking. Follow-up monitoring and tracking is appropriate even for
those cases where the apparent presence of the contaminant cannot be reestablished or its cause
detected.
D. NON-COMMUNITY WATER SYSTEM LEVEL OF EFFORT
POLICY:
EACH REGION SHOULD DEDICATE A MINIMUM LEVEL OF EFFORT TO
REGULATE NON-COMMUNITY WATER SYSTEMS. ANY ACTIVITIES ABOVE
THE BASE LEVEL SHOULD BE PRIORITIZED.
Guidance
Non-community water systems may serve large numbers of people on a transient basis. If
deficiencies in the quality of water provided by NCWS's occur, the health of numerous people
may be adversely affected but remain undetected by the usual disease tracking mechanisms.
Consequently, it is important that the primacy agent address NCWS complianceboth
monitoring/reporting and MCL compliance. All NCWS's exceeding MCL's should be informed
in writing of the violations and remedial actions subsequently required.
Currently resources are allocated to Regions to maintain the NCWS inventory and to
follow-up instances of non-compliance. At a minimum, the resources allocated for the NCWS
program should be used to implement the non-community program. Regions should be prepared
to demonstrate that any deviation from this policy is necessary to effectively deal with higher
priority public health concerns.
Given the limited resources currently allocated to the non-community program and the
pressing needs associated with the community systems, significant coverage to non-communities
requires that NCWS's be ranked and addressed in priority order. In addition, to ensure the
greatest degree of voluntary compliance, all non-community systems should be notified
periodically of their statutory responsibilities to both provide safe drinking water and to
demonstrate this through periodic monitoring.
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