Water Lines Safe Dun king L Water H4tlii\e May 2002 Monthly Report SDW Hotline Report In This Issue What's New? 1 Did You Know? 1 Frequently Asked Qs & As 2 Monthly Trends 3 Hotline Stats 4 Appendix A 6 Top Ten Topics Questions Percent of Topic (phone & Total* email) Questions Tap Water Testing 322** 10 Consumer 265 9 Confidence Report Local Drinking Water 237 8 Quality Household Wells 199 6 Lead 176 6 Home Water 163 5 Treatment Units Other EPA 132 4 Other Drinking Water 111 4 Background Coliforms 98 3 Non-EPA 98 3 Environmental *A total of 3,047 questions were answered by the Hotline (via telephone and email) in May2002. **Citizens who obtain their drinking water from private household wells asked 33% of the tap water testing questions. Published Monthly See past reports at http://intranet.epa.gov/ow/hotline Safe Drinking Water Hotline: National Toll-free No.: (800) 426-4791 or (877) EPAWATER For More Information Contact: Harriet Hubbard, EPA Project Officer (202) 564-4621 Operated by Booz Allen Hamilton Under Contract #GS-10F-0090J What's New New Documents: ¦ FACTOIDS: Drinking Water and Ground Water Statistics for 2001, May 2002, EPA815-D-02-004, is now available at www.epa.gov/ safewater/data/01 factoids.pdf ¦ Draft Implementation Guidance for the Long Term 1 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule, May 2002, EPA816-D-02-008, is now available for review at www.epa.gov/safewater/mdbp/lt1 eswtr.html ¦ CCRWriter - Version 2.0 is now available for download at www.epa.gov/safewater/ccr/ccrw riter.html ¦ Support documents for the Six- Year Review of Drinking Water Standards are now available at www.epa.gov/safewater/review. h tml Add This to Your Calendar: ¦ The Safe Drinking Water Hotline continues to take registrations for the regional Surface Water Treatment Rules workshops. Remaining workshops include Omaha, Nebraska (August 13- 14) and Seattle, Washington (October 8-9). The Hotline also continues to accept registrations for regional Arsenic Rule workshops. Remaining workshops include Dallas, Texas (July 30-31) and Omaha, Nebraska (August 15-16). Did You Know? In the United States, water utilities treat nearly 34 billion gallons of water every day. (Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water Web Site http://www.epa.gov/safewater/publicoutreach/index.html1 ------- May 2002 Frequently Asked Qs & As Q: The operator of a Public Water System (PWS) is completing his Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) that is due by July 1, 2002. The system detected 0.008 mg/L of arsenic in the distribution system water during the previous year. Is the system required to use the specified arsenic informational statement in 40 CFR 141.154(b)(1)? A: Beginning in the CCR due by July 1, 2002, a system that detects arsenic above 0.005 mg/L and up to and including 0.01 mg/L must include a short informational statement about arsenic in its report. The system may use the suggested language listed in 40 CFR 141.154(b)(1), or it may write its own educational statement, but only in consultation with its primacy agency (40 CFR 141.154(b)). Q: Did the 2000 Radionuclides Rule include any new methods for analysis of uranium? A: No. EPA is currently reviewing the Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) method (EPA method 200.8 or SM 3125) for uranium analysis (65 FR 76708, 76724). Q: What is the detection limit for uranium radioanalysis? A: A detection limit for uranium is not listed in 40 CFR 141.25 and none was proposed in the Radionuclides Proposed Rule (56 FR 33050, July 8, 1991). EPA did propose a practical quantitation limit (PQL) and an acceptance limit but in order to be consistent with other regulated radionuclides, EPA did not adopt the PQL. The Agency will propose a detection limit for uranium in a future rulemaking and will set the limit before December 8, 2003 (the compliance date for the Rule) (65 FR 76708, 76724). Q: If a facility is installing a Class I injection well, the well must inject beneath the lowermost underground source of drinking water (USDW). How does EPA define a USDW? A: A USDW is defined in 40 CFR 144.3 as any aquifer that: (1) supplies a public water system; or (2) contains a sufficient quantity of water to supply a public water system and currently supplies drinking water for human consumption or contains fewer than 10,000 mg/L of total dissolved solids. Q: A state park utilizes a dry well to receive wastewater from shower facilities used by 8-10 crewmen working on a project. Do the underground injection control (UIC) requirements for Class V wells apply to this well? A: The UIC requirements do not apply to dry wells that receive solely sanitary waste and have the capacity to serve fewer than 20 persons a day (i.e., non-residential cesspools) (40 CFR 144.81(2)). Q: Are septic systems regulated as Class V wells under the underground injection control (UIC) program? A: The UIC requirements for owners and operators of Class V injection wells are found in 40 CFR Part 144, Subpart G. This subpart applies to owners or operators of septic system wells used to inject solely sanitary waste from a multiple dwelling, business establishment, community or regional business establishment septic tank. The UIC requirements for Class V injection wells do not apply to single family residential septic system wells and to non-residential septic system wells that are used solely for the disposal of sanitary waste and have the capacity to serve fewer than 20 persons a day (40 CFR 144.81(9)). Q: Under the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulation (UCMR) requirements, must the UCMR sampling data collected in accordance with 40 CFR 141.40 be submitted to EPA by the PWS, or by the laboratory that analyzes the samples? A: According to the regulatory language in 40 CFR 141.35(e), public water systems must instruct the organization(s) responsible for the analysis of unregulated contaminant samples taken under 40 CFR 141.40 to enter the results into EPA's electronic reporting system. The PWS is responsible for reviewing those results and approving their submission to EPA. If the analytical organization or laboratory cannot enter these data electronically for the PWS, the PWS must obtain EPA's approval to use an alternate reporting procedure. Q: How can a citizen determine whether or not the service line that connects her home to the water main is made of lead? A: According to 40 CFR 141,85(a)(1)(iv)(B)(5), the best way to determine if a service line is made of lead is by either hiring a licensed plumber to inspect the line or by contacting the plumbing contractor who installed the line. To identify the plumbing contractor a person can check the city's record of building permits. A licensed plumber can at the same time check to see if a home's plumbing ------- May 2002 contains lead solder, lead pipes, or pipe fittings that contain lead. The public water system that delivers water to your home should also maintain records of the materials located in the distribution system. Q: Must public water systems include Information Collection Rule (ICR) data in the Consumer Confidence Report? A: ICR monitoring data collected pursuant to 40 CFR 141.142 and 141.143 must only be included in the Consumer Confidence Report for five years from the date of the last sample or until any of the detected contaminants becomes regulated (40 CFR 141.153(d)(3)(H)). Q: Can states use Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (DWSRF) to implement their Source Water Protection (SWP) program? A: The Safe Drinking Water Act as amended in 1996 allows up to 10 percent of a state's allotment for the DWSRF to be used to administer or provide technical assistance for SWP programs within the state (SDWA 1452(g)(2)(B)). Additional information on the DWSRF can be found at www.epa.gov/safewater/dwsrf.html. Monthly Trends Public Notification Questions — - fl fl ii n n n -O # ^ # o5- ^ ¦0s & ¦S' jS' <,& ^ ^ Questions regarding public notification have increased over recent months. May had the second highest total of public notification questions since July 2001. The increase may be attributed to Public Water Systems (PWS) in the State of Washington requesting a hard copy of the Public Notification Handbook. The State of Washington notified PWSs that the Public Notification Handbook is available by contacting the Safe Drinking Water Hotline. -3- ------- May 2002 Monthly Summary of Hotline Service Total number of calls answered 2,293 Total number of emails received 298 Average wait time (in seconds) 0:20 Percent of calls satisfied immediately 98% Percent of all calls answered in < 1 min 89.3% Percent of callbacks answered in 5 days 100% Percent of emails answered in 5 days 100% Number of times callers listened to recorded message about local DW quality 1,700 Number of times callers listened to recorded message about arsenic rule 79 Comparison to Previous Years Calls Emails May 2002 2,293 298 May 2001 3,382 511 Top Ten Referrals Customer Profiles Customer Calls Emails Analytical Laboratories 25 5 Citizen - Private Well 384 41 Citizen - PWS 1,233 87 Consultants/lndustry/Trade (DW) 121 14 Consultants/lndustry/Trade (Other) 104 45 Environmental Groups 16 0 EPA 42 1 Other Federal Agency 15 6 Government, Local 30 2 Government, State 43 13 Government, Tribal 5 1 Spanish Speaking 1 1 International 6 31 Media 9 1 Medical Professional 9 2 Public Water System 189 16 Schools/University 32 30 Other 29 2 TOTALS 2,293 298 Daily Call Data Total Calls Average Wait Time Number of Percent of Answered mm:sec Inquiry Referred to: Total* 1-May 92 00:24 Referrals Referrals 2-May 99 00:14 1. State Lab Certification 338 15 3-May 89 00:24 2. EPA Internet 298 13 6-May 91 00:10 3. NSF/WQA/UL 212 9 7-May 120 00:21 4. State PWSS 195 9 8-May 84 00:11 5. Local Water System 194 9 9-May 97 00:17 6. AGWT/WSC 144 6 10-May 82 00:19 7. Local Public Health 144 6 13-May 105 00:33 8. Non-EPA Internet 95 4 14-May 105 00:21 9. Other Hotlines 90 4 15-May 89 00:26 10. FDA/IBWA 60 3 16-May 91 00:14 *2,272 total referrals to other resources, agencies, and 17-May 76 00:19 organizations were provided by the Hotline in May 2002. 20-May 120 00:14 21-May 114 00:17 22-May 109 00:13 23-May 94 00:16 24-May 115 00:26 28-May 128 00:16 29-May 135 00:39 30-May 142 00:20 31-May 116 00:23 TOTALS 2,293 00:20 ------- May 2002 Topic Categories Category Calls Emails Microbials/Disinfection Byproducts Chlorine 27 4 Coliforms 94 4 Cryptosporidium 80 2 Disinfection/Disinfection Byproducts (Other) 27 6 Disinfection - Home Water 19 1 Other Microbials 26 1 Surface Water Treatment (SWTR, ESWTR, LT1FBR) 46 7 Trihalomethane (THM) 18 1 Inorganic Chemicals (IOC)/Synthetic Organic Chemicals (SOC) Arsenic 68 9 Fluoride 31 5 Methyl-ferf/ary-butyl-ether (MTBE) 15 2 Perchlorate 5 1 Phase I, II & V 33 13 Sodium Monitoring 10 0 Sulfate 6 0 Lead and Copper Copper 13 2 Lead 168 8 Lead Contamination Control Act (LCCA)/Lead Ban 8 0 Radionuclides Radionuclides (Other) 22 2 Radionuclides (Radon) 74 7 Secondary DW Regulations Secondary DW Regulations 56 10 SDWA Background/Overview Definitions & Applicability 19 2 MCL List 43 12 Other Background 100 11 SDWA 25 1 Hotline Statistics Category Calls Emails Water on Tap 46 3 Other DW Regulations Analytical Methods (DW) 22 13 Contaminant Candidate List/ Drinking Water Priority List 7 0 Consumer Confidence Report (DW) 256 9 DW Primacy (PWS) 1 3 Operator (PWS) Certification 3 2 Other Drinking Water Security 9 2 Public Notification (PWS) 33 0 Security Planning Grants 23 1 State Revolving Fund (DW) 1 2 Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR) 28 1 Other Drinking Water Additives Program 6 5 Bottled Water 64 10 Complaints about PWS 33 4 Compliance & Enforcement (PWS) 11 2 Home Water Treatment Units 143 20 Infrastructure/Cap. Development 4 0 Local DW Quality 218 19 Tap Water Testing 307 15 Treatment/BATs (DW) 27 5 Drinking Water Source Protection Ground Water Rule 6 3 Sole Source Aquifer 2 0 Source Water/Wellhead Protect. 0 7 UIC Program 10 1 Out of Purview Household Wells 180 19 Non-Environmental 57 30 Non-EPA Environmental 64 34 Other EPA (Programs) 111 21 TOTALS 2,705 342 -5- ------- SAFE DRINKING WATER HOTLINE MONTHLY REPORT May 2002 Appendix A: Federal Register Summaries PROPOSED RULES "Spring 2002 Regulatory Agenda" May 13, 2002 (67 FR 33724) EPA published the "Semiannual Regulatory Agenda" to update the public about: (1) regulations and major policies currently under development; (2) reviews of existing regulations and major policies; and (3) regulations and major policies completed or canceled since the last Agenda. NOTICES "OMB Approvals Under the Paperwork Reduction Act; Technical Amendment" May 3, 2002 (67 FR 22353) This technical amendment amends the table that lists the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control numbers issued under the Paperwork Reduction Act for the Public Water System Supervision Program (PWSS) Information Collection Request (ICR), Microbial Rules ICR and Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts, Chemical, and Radionuclides (DBP/Chem/Rads) Rules ICR. "EPA Science Advisory Board; Notification of Public Advisory Committee Meetings: Affordability Criterion for Drinking Water Treatment Technologies for Small Systems" May 7, 2002 (67 FR 30681) EPA announced a meeting of the Environmental Economics Advisory Committee (EEAC) of the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) to review the Agency's affordability criterion for small systems under the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996. The SAB was established to provide independent scientific and technical advice to the EPA Administrator on Agency positions; in this case the methodology for developing and applying the affordability criterion. "Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Public Water Systems Supervision Program: Public Notification Amendment" May 9, 2002 (67 FR 31301) EPA announced that it has forwarded the ICR entitled, "Public Water Systems Supervision (PWSS) Program: Public Notification Amendment," OMB Control No. 2040-0090, to OMB for review and approval. "Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Drinking Water Customer Satisfaction Survey" May 9, 2002 (67 FR 31302) EPA announced that it has forwarded the ICR entitled, "Drinking Water Customer Satisfaction Survey," ICR number 2016.01, to OMB for review and approval. ------- "Public Water Supply Supervision Program; Program Revision for the State of Oregon" May 9, 2002 (67 FR 31304) EPA announced that the State of Oregon has revised its approved State PWSS Primacy Program. Oregon has adopted drinking water regulations for disinfectants and disinfection byproducts and has adopted revisions to its surface water treatment regulations and lead and copper regulations. EPA has determined that these revisions are no less stringent than the corresponding federal regulations. Therefore, EPA intends on approving these State program revisions. "Announcement of a Stakeholder Meeting on the Six-Year Review of Existing National Primary Drinking Water Regulations, as Required by the Safe Drinking Water Act" May 20, 2002 (67 FR 35540) EPA announced a public meeting to discuss the results of the Agency's preliminary findings in the review of 69 pre-1997 National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWRs). The Federal Register notice that announced the preliminary results of the review of NPDWRs (i.e., the Six-Year Review) was published by EPA on April 17, 2002. The purpose of this meeting is to provide information to stakeholders and the public on the Six-Year Review of NPDWRs. "Agency Information Collection Activities; OMB Responses" May 23, 2002 (67 FR 36171) EPA announced the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) responses to Agency clearance requests, in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et. Seq.). The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter 15. EPA ICR No. 2067.01, "Laboratory Quality Assurance Evaluation Program for Analysis of Cryptosporidium Under the Safe Drinking Water Act," was approved April 11, 2002; OMB No. 2040-0246. The current expiration date for this ICR is July 31, 2002. "Public Water System Supervision Program Revision for the State of South Carolina" May 23, 2002 (67 FR 36184) EPA announced that the State of South Carolina is revising its approved Public Water System Supervision Program. South Carolina has adopted drinking water regulations revising the Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule and Disinfection Byproduct Rule. EPA has determined that these revisions meet all minimum federal requirements, and are no less stringent than the corresponding federal regulations. Therefore, EPA has tentatively decided to approve these State program revisions. "Public Water Supervision Program Revision for the State of Tennessee" May 23, 2002 (67 FR 36185) EPA announced that the State of Tennessee is revising its approved Public Water System Supervision Program. Tennessee has adopted drinking water regulations which incorporate the requirements of the Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule and the Stage 1 Disinfection/Disinfectants Byproducts Rule. EPA has determined that these revisions are no less stringent than the corresponding federal regulations. Therefore, EPA intends to approve this State program revision. -7- ------- "Public Water Supervision Program Revision for the State of Tennessee" May 23, 2002 (67 FR 36185) EPA announced that the State of Tennessee is revising its approved Public Water System Supervision Program. Tennessee has adopted drinking water regulations, which provide minor revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule. EPA has determined that these revisions are no less stringent than the corresponding federal regulations. Therefore, EPA intends to approve this State program revision. "EPA Science Advisory Board; Notification of Public Advisory Committee Meetings" May 24, 2002 (67 FR 36593) EPA announced that the Drinking Water Committee of the US EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB), will conduct a public teleconference meeting on June 11, 2002. The primary purpose of this meeting will be for staff from EPA's Office of Water to provide background briefings sufficient for the Committee to develop a systematic plan for responding to the agency request on two topics: (1) Six-Year Review of Existing Regulations Notice of Intent on Review Decisions (6-YR) and (2) Contaminant Candidate List Notice of Intent on Regulatory Determinations (CCL1). "Sole Source Aquifer Petition Denial" May 31, 2002 (67 FR 38113) EPA provided notice that it denied a petition to designate the La Cienega Valley Area Aquifer a Sole Source Aquifer. The aquifer is not eligible for designation because it is not the principal source of drinking water for the area covered by the petition. "Public Water System Supervision Program Revision for the State of Mississippi" May 31, 2002 (67 FR 38113) EPA provided notice that the State of Mississippi is revising its approved Public Water System Supervision Program. Mississippi has adopted drinking water regulations for Lead and Copper Minor Revision. EPA has determined that these revisions are no less stringent than the corresponding Federal regulations. Therefore, EPA intends on approving this State program revision. ------- |