UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WSG 29A
Date Signed: June 16, 1987
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: Guidance for FY 19 8 8 PWS S Enforcement agreements
FROM: Lawrence J. Jensen (signed by Lawrence Jensen),
Assistant Administrator
for Water (WH-556)
TO: Regional Water Division Directors
Regions I - X
I. Purpose
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide guidance to Regional offices in
concluding FY 1988 enforcement agreements with States which have primary enforcement
responsibility for their Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) programs.
II. Background
The Deputy Administrator has issued guidance for the FY 1988 enforcement agreement
process. That guidance states that no NEW directions are being identified. Rather, this year's
Agency-wide guidance emphasizes improvements and refinements in selected areas of the
process as set forth in the policy framework, especially in:
• oversight of State penalties;
• effective involvement of State Attorneys General; and
• enforcement against Federal facilities.
III. Guidance
Regions are to follow the Deputy Administrator's guidance (copy attached) in concluding
or revising enforcement agreements for PWSS programs. In addition, I request that you
incorporate certain program specific priorities:
Revised Definition of Significant Non-Compliance (SNC). The SNC definition
for the PWSS program was recently revised. The revised definition is attached for
your convenience. Please ensure that this definition is used in FY 1988.
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WSG 29A
• Quarterly Compliance Conference. Most Regions are already holding conferences
to review compliance status with their States. This is an excellent mechanism
which enables Regions to clarify the systems that are truly SNCs and identify
potential candidates for Federal enforcement action. Such quarterly conferences
should be used by all Regions with primacy States, and should be formally
incorporated in the enforcement agreements.
• Timely and Appropriate Enforcement. The definition of appropriate enforcement
actions and the milestones for taking action are not changed for FY 1988. The
program is committed to full implementation of the timely and appropriate
enforcement system. This system was further strengthened by the passage of the
Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1986. The Amendments which give
EPA the authority to issue administrative orders, direct EPA to take an
administrative action whenever the Administrator finds that a system does not
comply with a primary regulation under Section 1412 of the Act.
Systems in significant non-compliance, for which the State has taken no action or
an inappropriate action, will remain the primary focus of Federal oversight and
direct Federal action. However, non-compliance other than SNC should be
considered for Federal oversight and action. To ensure appropriate enforcement of
these areas of non-compliance, the Regions must work closely with the States.
Together the Region and State should map out what level of State response is
appropriate for each type of non-compliance, and when and how EPA will take
action to ensure that a strong enforcement presence is felt throughout the
regulated community.
The State/EPA enforcement agreements should include expectations agreed upon
for both State and Federal responses. In addition, effective protocols for
discussion, advance consultation, and notification will be critical to ensuring that
a working partnership between Region and State is maintained.
• Compliance Strategy. A revised compliance strategy for the PWSS program was
issued on March 31, 1987. A copy has been sent to you under separate cover.
Regions should ensure that the principles of the revised strategy are implemented.
In particular, each primacy State should commit to following the guidance
contained in the compliance strategy.
It is not my intention to require Regions and States to expend large amounts of resources
revising existing enforcement agreements when no major changes are required. For example, in
States which have instituted a formal process for developing and refining these agreements and
have them signed at high levels of state governments, revising agreements is a cumbersome
process. Therefore, if the existing enforcement agreements comply with the intent and the major
thrust of this guidance such that significant changes are not required, they may be left as they are.
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Specific priority items referred to in this guidance may be incorporated into other documents as
appropriate. I am concerned with achieving our 1988 program priorities, not with the particular
document in which an item appears.
IV. Addresses
Any questions concerning this guidance should be addressed to Chet Pauls (382-5550) of
the Drinking Water Branch, State Programs Division.
Note: Attachment could not be located. For more information, please contact the EPA staff
person mentioned in the document.
*Note: May need to be updated.
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