Region 8 Tribal Drinking Water Monthly Newsletter Announcement: Region 8 Drinking Water Staff Changes Nate Delano, Region 8's drinking water tribal liaison, departed the program on October 11th. Nate will be joining EPA Region 9, working out of Tucson, Arizona, where he will continue to focus on tribal drinking water issues. Nate has held the tribal liaison position in Region 8 for five years, and has been a tremendous asset to the Region and the tribal drinking water program. Region 8 will backfill the position, but in the interim, Andrea Griese and Joe Faubion are the appropriate points of contact for tribal drinking water issues. Their contact information is listed at the end of this newsletter. Jill Minter started yesterday in the Safe Drinking Water Branch as the lead service line inventory coordinator. Jill comes to the program with 10 years' experience in the R8 Drinking Water Enforcement section, so she is very familiar with the Safe Drinking Water Act and the challenges facing tribal water systems. For more information on EPA's latest guidance for identifying lead service lines, click here. October, 2022 THIS MONTH Announcement: Region 8 Drinking Water Staff Changes Resource: Free EPA-Sponsored Cybersecurity Assessments Resource: Replacing Toxic Lead Pipes Website Upcoming Webinars Upcoming Regulatory Deadlines Key EPA Contacts To contact Jill, click here. Resource: Free EPA-Sponsored Cybersecurity Assessments EPA is offering free, confidential assessments and technical assistance to interested drinking water and wastewater utilities. Horsley Witten Group, Inc. (HW) has been hired by the EPA as a contractor to provide technical assistance (TA) and conduct cybersecurity assessments. These free, confidential assessments and technical assistance are available to interested drinking water and wastewater utilities. The assessment and assistance will focus on best practices on how to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a cyber incident. ------- Adoption of these practices can reduce the likelihood that a cyber attack will be successful and allow a utility to recover from cyber attacks faster and at a lower cost. The assessment and assistance will include the development of a cyber action plan to guide the implementation of best practices. Participating utilities will engage in an assessment with the TA provider, develop and implement a cyber action plan, and participate in two follow-up progress and help sessions. These assessments and technical assistance may be conducted virtually, no on-site visit is required. If your utility is interested in participating, please register below and a staff member will contact you soon. Please note: Registration does not guarantee that your utility will be selected to participate. Cybersecurity technical assistance is limited by TA provider availability. Click here to register. Resource: Replacing Toxic Lead Pipes Website The Environmental Policy Innovation Center's "Replace Toxic Lead Pipes" hub has online resources and peer network focused on identifying and replacing lead service lines. You can also sign up for their Water Infrastructure e-newsletter that includes dates of any new webinars related to inventorying or replacing lead services lines. Upcoming Webinars Title Descriptions Date Registration Wastewater Emergency Response Planning Webinar This webinar, hosted by EPA's Water Infrastructure and Cyber Resilience Division, will include an overview of EPA's recently published Emergency Response Plan Template for Wastewater Utilities, along with wastewater system preparedness and response case studies presented by the Greater New Haven (CT) Water Pollution Control Authority and the City of Henderson (NV) Department of Utility Services. October 19, 2022, 11 AM MT Click here Engaging in EPA's Upcoming Proposed PFAS Drinking Water Regulatory Process EPA is hosting a webinar to prepare communities for how provide their input on the upcoming proposed National Primary Drinking Water Regulation for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under the Safe Drinking Water Act. In the webinar, you will hear about: November 2, 2022, 12:30 - 2:00 PM MT Click here ------- • What are PFAS and how do they impact drinking water • How EPA develops a drinking water regulation • EPA's timeline and activities associated with the proposed PFAS drinking water regulation • What happens after the regulation is proposed and how can communities provide their input to EPA • Where to go for more information The webinar will also provide an opportunity to submit questions. During the webinar, EPA will not be discussing the specific requirements of the proposed PFAS drinking water regulation. That information will be available once the proposed rule is issued. ASDWA WEBINAR SERIES ON IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS AND BEST PRACTICES FOR LSLI AND LSLR ASDWA is pleased to announce our upcoming free webinar series: Implementation Tools and Best Practices for Lead Service Line Inventories and Replacements. This webinar series is open to the public and intended for those in the water industry who are working to #gettheleadout, starting with the identification of lead service lines and the completion of EPA's lead service line inventory requirement. Webinars will be held on Thursdays from 1:00-2:30 PM ET. Info on webinar series available here. Multiple sessions, first on 11/10/2022, 11:00-12:30 PM Click here Water Security Virtual Conference: Free for Small Systems WaterlSAC will host a virtual event for "water and wastewater professionals looking to level up on their Physical Security, IT and OT Cybersecurity, and Resilience." Small systems may email events@waterisac.org to request a coupon code for free registration. Learn more about H20SecCon. November 15- 17, Afternoons Click here Other Webinar and Trainina Resources ------- IHSEHSC Training AWWA Training Calendar WaterOoerator.org Training Calendar Calendar Upcoming Regulatory Deadlines (Refer to Tickler for System-Specific Information) Date Event Location Last day of every calendar month Last day to collect monthly total coliform samples Sites approved on your RTCR sample plan 10th of every month Last day for EPA to receive total coliform and DBP samples collected during the previous month N/A September 30th Last day to collect Lead and Copper samples for systems who have a seasonal monitoring period of Jun - September (check your To-Do) Sites approved on your LCR sample plan Key EPA Contacts Region 8 Tribal Team Emily Gillespie - Helena, MT Office -406-457-5009 - Gillespie.emilv.iffiepa.gov Joe Faubion - Helena, MT Office - 406-457-5005 - Faubion.iosephffiepa.gov Andrea Griese - Pierre, SD Office - 605-945-1192 - griese.andreaffiepa.gov Other R8 Drinking Water Employee Contact Information Can be Found Here. This newsletter can be viewed online by visiting: https://www.epa.gov/region8-waterops/epa-region-8- tribal-drinking-water-monthly-newsletter. If you would like to be added or removed from this newsletter distribution list, please email griese.andrea@epa.gov. ------- |