Region 8 Tribal Drinking Water Monthly Newsletter May, 2022 Reminder: New Significant Deficiency for Water Systems Regulated by EPA Region 8 As sanitary survey season approaches, please be advised of a new significant deficiency EPA Region 8 will begin enforcing with this year's sanitary surveys. Starting in the Spring of 2022, sanitary surveys conducted by EPA Region 8 at Wyoming and Tribal public water systems will look for dedicated groundwater source sample taps as required by the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWRs) found in 40 CFR 141.400. If sample taps are not located during the survey for each groundwater source a Significant Deficiency will be included in the sanitary survey report. THIS MONTH Reminder: New Significant Deficiency for Water Systems Regulated by EPA Region 8 Consultation: EPA's Consumer Confidence Report Rule Revision Announcement: National Tribal Water Council Seeking Applications for New Region 8 Representative Training: Regulation Training Presentations on EPA Website Training: Lead Testing and Remediation in Drinking Water in Child Care and Early Childhood Facilities Upcoming Webinars Upcoming Regulatory Deadlines Key EPA Contacts ------- Consultation: EPA's Consumer Confidence Report Rule Revision EPA has initiated consultation and coordination with federally recognized Indian tribes to obtain input on the agency's forthcoming proposed Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) Rule Revision. CCRs, also known as annual drinking water quality reports, provide consumers of community water systems information about their local drinking water quality. The original CCR rule was promulgated in 1998 following a mandate in the 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). In accordance with the amendments to the CCR section of SDWA by the America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (AWIA), EPA is developing a proposal to revise CCR regulations to: • Improve readability and accuracy of CCRs; • Require biannual delivery of CCRs for large systems; and • Allow electronic delivery of CCRs to consumers. Community water systems are required by the 1996 SDWA amendment "Right to Know" rules to provide consumers with a summary of their water quality related information through a CCR. CCRs help to raise consumer awareness of where their water comes from, inform consumers of the process by which their water is delivered, and educate consumers on the importance of water safety measures (e.g., source water protection). Ideally, CCRs should start a dialogue between consumers and their community water system and increase consumer participation in decisions impacting their drinking water. CCRs allow consumers, to make more informed decisions regarding their drinking water. EPA is requesting input on considerations to inform the development of the forthcoming proposed revisions to the CCR rule and requirements. • Consumer Confidence Report Rule Revisions on (TCOTS) Consultation Deadline: June 14, 2022. For any questions, please contact Brionca Taylor, U.S. EPA, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water by email at Taylor.Brionca@epa.gov or by phone at 202-564-2022. ------- Announcement: National Tribal Water Council Seeking Applications for New Region 8 Representative The National Tribal Water Council is a technical and scientific body established to advocate for the best interests of federally recognized Indian and Alaska Native Tribes in matters pertaining to water. The Council is currently accepting applications from tribal water professionals. • Region 8 Representative: Open to tribal water professionals employed by a federally recognized Tribe or tribally authorized organization from Region 8, which includes the following states: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. Member duties include but are not limited to: • Participate in monthly conference calls • Attend bi-annual meetings • Participate in crafting response documents to policy and/or rule making actions The Council is seeking individuals that are passionate and vocal about tribal water issues. Interested candidates must submit an application form, letter of interest and professional resume. • Membership application and information packet Application Deadline: May 31, 2022. For more information, please contact Elaine Wilson, Project Manager for the National Tribal Water Council, Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, Northern Arizona University, at elaine.wilson@nau.edu or (480) 452-6774. Training: Regulation Training Presentations on EPA Website Detailed presentations on Safe Drinking Water Act regulations have been posted to EPA Region 8's website. These presentations, put together by EPA staff, provide important information (such as history of each regulation, risk to the public, and monitoring and reporting requirements) on each of the major SDWA regulations. These presentations are available here. Training: Lead Testing and Remediation in Drinking Water in Child Care and Early Childhood Facilities The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) invite you to register for our 3-part training series on Lead Testing and Remediation in Drinking Water in Child Care and Early Childhood Facilities. The 3-part series builds on each other and is designed to provide all the resources you will need to complete a 3Ts (Training, Testing and Taking Action) plan to conduct lead testing and reduce exposure to children. Come and learn: The EPA and HHS will take you through presentations, interactive tools, and case studies to build your 3Ts plan and share information on the increased funding opportunities (from the Bipartisan ------- Infrastructure Law passed in November 2021 by President Biden) available to child care/early childhood facilities. Please register for the 3-part series: After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. 1) May 31, 2022 (11:00 pm - 12:30 pm MT): PART 1 -- Training: I mplementing a 3Ts program for Lead Testing in Drinking Water in Child Care and Early Childhood Facilities. REGISTER here. 2) June 14, 2022 (11:00 pm - 12:30 pm MT): PART 2 -- Testing: Implementing a 3Ts program for Collecting Lead Samples in Drinking Water in Child Care and Early Childhood Facilities. REGISTER: Go to your confirmation email for link! 3) June 23, 2022 (11:00 pm - 12:30 pm MT): PART 3 -- Taking Action: Implementing a 3Ts program for Reducing Lead Exposure in Drinking Water in Child Care and Early Childhood Facilities. REGISTER: Go to your confirmation email for link! Upcoming Webinars Title Descriptions Date Registration Chlorine Disinfection and CT Calculations for Small Water Systems This webinar is designed to improve understanding of key concepts and mathematical relationships in chlorine disinfection. Attendees will engage in calculating chlorine dosages and feed rates for the three forms of chlorine in order to ensure necessary disinfection is taking place in drinking water. Also, attendees will learn how to calculate CT values in order to comply with inactivation requirements for viruses and Giardia. May 17, 2022 (11:00 am MT) Click here Coding-based Workflows for Water Quality Modeling This workshop series will focus on acquisition, processing, exploration, and export of data relevant for water quality modeling. Participants will learn how to access publicly available data and work with it in a coding-based environment, which can result in increased efficiency, more effective collaboration, and more transparent quality control measures than spreadsheet-based workflows. Topics will include water quality, streamflow, weather data, and watershed delineations. Our target audience is organizations that regularly work with water quality data and models and are interested in developing May 24, 2022 (11:00-1:00 PM MT) Click here ------- tools to shift into coding-based workflows for their data tasks. Source Water Protection and Harmful Algal Blooms Using Molecular Methods to Studv April 26, 2022 (12:00 to 2:00 PM MT) Click here Cvanobacterial Blooms • Presented by Jorge Santo Domingo, EPA's Office of Research and Development Funding Integration Tool for Source Water: Finding a Plan a FITS • Presented by Terrell Tiendrebogo and April Byrne, EPA's Office of Water\N\th 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 Key EPA Contacts Region 8 Tribal Team Nate Delano - Denver, CO Office - 303-312-6318 - delano.nathaniel@epa.gov Emily Gillespie - Helena, MT Office - 406-457-5009 - Gillespie.emily.i@epa.gov Joe Faubion - Helena, MT Office - 406-457-5005 - Faubion.joseph@epa.gov Andrea Griese - Pierre, SD Office - 605-945-1192 - griese.andrea@epa.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-monthlv-newsletter. If you would like to be added or removed from this newsletter distribution list, please email delano.nathaniel@epa.gov. ------- |