Top 10 Things To Remember Delivery is your responsibility! A CWS must certify delivery to every bill-paying customer so keep in touch with your primacy agency. CWSs will need to use a combination of methods for their service area. Know your customer base! Specified electronic delivery method capabilities. Give customers a heads up and an option! Inform customers of the change in delivery approach before delivery of the CCRs to customers. Give them a chance to choose if they prefer paper or electronic CCRs. Tell everyone, all the time! A CWS mailing a direct URL should include an option on every water bill for a customer to elect to receive a paper CCR. Know your costs! May not see savings in the first year, may take a few years for people to be comfortable with e-delivery. We have gone over a lot of information! Here is our Top Ten list of things to remember when implementing a CCR electronic delivery program: Delivery is ultimately your responsibility! A combination of paper and/or electronic delivery will be necessary in a service area. And remember to keep in touch with your primacy agency about your plans! IF INCLUDED IN BILLING STATEMENT IT MUST OUT BEFORE Q2 AP-JUNE TO MEET JULY DEADLINE. Know your customer base! Not everyone is ready for electronic delivery, communicate with your customers to find out their preferences! Give customers a heads up and an option! Public outreach surrounding electronic delivery is a great way to engage your customers and keep up good relations! Recent studies have shown that consumers still prefer paper copies of the CCR (AWWA). Tell everyone, all the time! Put the direct URL on every water bill throughout the year along with the option for the customer to choose to receive a paper CCR, like the check box on the bill, that way people can see how great their water is year-round! REMEMBER url MUST BE LIVE WHEN IT IS MAILED POSTED OR EMAILED. Know your costs! You may not see cost savings in the first year but as people are more comfortable with electronic delivery your savings are sure to increase! COMPARE COSTS OF DIFFERENT METHODS LOOK AT THE MATRIX IN THE ATTACHMENT.

Top 10 Things To Remember Catch customers’ attentions! Email delivery! Include a short message to encourage readership of the CCR. Email delivery! If an email bounces back resend the CCR by an alternative means. Keep email databases up to date. Make it bold! Make it short! The direct URL should be in typeface that is at least as large as the largest type on the statement or other mailing notification. A CWS should also create a short, easy to type direct URL. Keep a record! Remember customer delivery preferences for future CCR deliveries. Remind auto-pay customers! To ensure that electronic bill and auto-pay customers are aware of their CCR, a CWS should send a separate CCR-related email. Catch customers’ attentions! Include a short summary message to encourage customers to read the CCR and get excited about their water! Email delivery! If an email bounces back remember to deliver the CCR through another method allowed under the Rule. And remember to update your email database too for next year! Consider using a tracking mechanism to see how many customers open the emails. Make it bold! Make it short! The direct URL must be prominently displayed on any mailing, short and easy to type. The summary and URL must be on the front of the mailing. There is no maximum number of characters since one CWS may have a longer name than another but it should contain straightforward characters so one doesn’t get confused between zeros and the letter o and ones and the letter l etc. Keep a Record! When a customer requests a CCR delivered in a specific format keep that choice on file for the next year to make things easier. Remind auto-pay customers! Since auto-pay and e-billing customers may not see their water bills, CWSs should send a separate email with a CCR related subject line to promote readership.

Suggestions for primacy agencies and additional resources

Suggestions for Primacy Agencies Be a resource Share the EPA memo and webinar presentation Write newsletter articles Delivery certification Update CCR certification forms Verify the URL listed by the CWS Promote best practices Encourage CWSs to share “lessons learned” and best practices Keep EPA in the loop Share progress, implementation successes and challenges with your EPA Regional office. Electronic delivery may be a big change for water systems and customers. There is no need for CCR primacy revision but CWSs should get primacy agency consent. remember states can be more stringent than the federal regulation. Please encourage your CWSs to work with you and make sure they know what the state is comfortable with, especially if it is different than the memorandum. We want primacy agencies to be able to help in the transition. Here are some suggestions for primacy agencies: Be a resource for your CWSs – reach out to systems planning on implementing electronic delivery. If you have any question don’t hesitate to contact EPA for clarification and assistance. Delivery certification – update your certification forms and notify CWSs of the change. Think about if you would prefer receiving certification forms electronically. Be sure to check the URL that is listed by the water systems to make sure it meets the direct URL criteria. Promote best practices for CWSs transitioning to electronic delivery. Act as a clearing house and gather the ideas that are working and not working to help other systems that may consider starting electronic delivery in the future. Keep EPA in the loop – we want to hear for you! This is an exciting time to take advantage of technology. Share your ups and downs along the e-delivery journey with your EPA Regional office.