Cindy Christian Compliance & Monitoring Manager DEC Drinking Water Program Sustained Compliance Workshop September 23-24, 2010

Presentation Outline What is a Public Water System CWS and NCWS Regulated Contaminants Health Effects Safe Drinking Water Act & Rules State Primacy Requirements Implementation and Enforcement of Rules Violation Types Violation Distribution

What is a Public Water System A public water system is defined in the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) as “a system for the provision to the public of water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances, if such system has at least fifteen service connections, or regularly serves at least twenty-five individuals.”

Regulatory Distinctions Among Water Systems Public Water System Non-Community Water System Non-Transient Non-Community Water System Transient Non- Community Water System Community Water System

Water System Distribution in Alaska 5

Regulated Contaminants A water contaminant is any physical, chemical, biological or radiological substance or matter in water There are legal limits on the levels of certain contaminants in drinking water

Types of Contaminants Acute Contaminants Cause adverse health effects within a matter of days or hours Microbiological Bacteria Viruses Protozoa Nitrate is only chemical with acute health effects Chro nic Contaminants A long term effect that is possible due to exposure over many years Chemical Inorganics Organics Radionuclides Disinfection By-Products Lead and Copper Arsenic

Secondary Contaminants Not associated with health effects Affect the taste, odor, color and hardness Examples are iron, manganese, sodium and TDS Affect the treatment processes Secondary MCL’s

How Do We Get Our Regulations? SDWA Requires Primary Drinking Water Standards Gave authority to EPA to set national drinking water regulations EPA Set drinking water regulations, conduct studies and research Oversee State implementation of the SDWA DEC Primary enforcement responsibility (primacy) DWP is the primacy program responsible for administration and enforcement

How Does EPA Decide Which Contaminants to Regulate? EPA periodically publishes the Candidate Contaminant List (CCL) The CCL is used to prioritize research and data collection to determine if the contaminant should be regulated Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulatory Determination Rulemaking process to develop a national primary drinking water regulation

Regulatory Determination When making a determination to regulate, the SDWA requires consideration of three criteria: the potential adverse effects of the contaminant on human health the frequency and level of contaminant occurrence in public drinking water systems whether regulation of the contaminant presents a meaningful opportunity for reducing public health risks

Developing National Primary Drinking Water Regulations Health Risks Human Exposure Contaminant Selected MCL or Treatment Technique MCLG

Primacy Section 1413 of SDWA allows EPA to award primary enforcement responsibility or “primacy” to states Most states seek primacy because it gives them flexibility to address State-specific needs and problems All states currently have primacy, except Wyoming and District of Columbia Primacy must be maintained – it is not permanent

Primacy Requirements States must promulgate regulations at least as stringent as EPA States have up to 4 years to develop regulations and apply for primacy States must have procedures in place for implementing and enforcing regulations: Inventory Sanitary Surveys State Certified Laboratory Plan Review Enforcement Authority

Additional Primacy Requirements Recordkeeping and Reporting Variances and Exemptions Emergency Plan Consistent Definition of Public Water System

Alaska Primacy Chemical Rules (Phase I, II, IIb, and V) Total Coliform Rule Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM’s) Surface Water Treatment Rules (SWTR, IESWTR, LT1) Lead and Copper Rule and Minor Revisions Stage 1 Disinfection/Disinfectant By-Products (D/DBP’s) Radionuclides Consumer Confidence Report Rule (CCR) Arsenic Rule Filter Backwash Recycling Rule In process of obtaining primacy for LT2, Stage 2 and Ground Water Rule (GWR)

Implement Standards Adopt New Regulations Apply to Maintain Primacy Implement and Enforce under Interim Primacy Receive Primacy for New Regulations

Monitoring Ensure that systems are meeting drinking water standards Monitoring is based on: Contaminant Type System Size Previous detections or exceedances

Reporting Requirements EPA SDWIS/FED SNC ListEnviroFacts Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) Validate ViolationsReject Violations Electronic Data Reporting System (EDRS) AcceptedRejected

SDWIS Data publically available through DEC and EPA Websites DEC Drinking Water Watch EPA Annual Public Water System Statistics Envirofacts - Access data for Individual water systems online Download Microsoft Excel Pivot Tables of SDWIS/Fed data Online Consumer Confidence Report

Enforce Standards States have discretion in enforcement Preventive Actions Sanitary Surveys CPE’s and CTA’s Reminder Letters Technical Assistance and On-site Meetings Operator Certification and Training Remote Maintenance Workers Outreach and Education Activities

Informal Enforcement Actions Phone Calls Warning Letters Bilateral Compliance Agreement (BCA)

Formal Enforcement Actions Notice of Violation (NOV) Compliance Order By Consent (COBC) Administrative Penalty Civil Actions Referral to EPA

We made 8,245 phone calls since 2006!!

Types of Violations Monitoring and Reporting Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) Treatment Technique (TT)

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Questions?