Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
TAble 3.4 (continued)
Summary of Major Amendment Provisions for the 1996 SDWA Regulations
Public right to
know (cont.)
Systems serving 500 or fewer people need only prepare the report and tell their customers it is available.
States can later modify the content and form of the reporting requirements.
The public information provision modestly improves public notice requirements for violations (such as requiring prominent
newspaper publication instead of buried classified ads). States and USEPA must prepare annual reports summarizing
violations.
Variances and
exemptions
Provisions for small system variances make minor changes to current provisions regarding exemption criteria and schedules.
States are authorized to grant variances to systems serving 3300 or fewer people but need USEPA approval to grant variances to
systems serving between 3301 and 10,000 people. Such variances are available only if USEPA identifies an applicable variance
technology and systems install it.
Variances are granted only to systems that cannot afford to comply (as defined by state criteria that meet USEPA guidelines)
through treatment, alternative sources, or restructuring, and when states determine that the terms of the variance ensure
adequate health protection. Systems granted such variances have 3 years to comply with its terms and may be granted an extra
2 years if necessary, and states must review eligibility of such variances every 5 years thereafter.
Variances are not allowed for regulations adopted prior to 1986 for microbial contaminants or their indicators.
USEPA has 2 years to adopt regulations specifying procedures for granting or denying such variances and for informing
consumers of proposed variances and pertinent public hearings. They also must describe proper operation of variance
technologies and eligibility criteria. USEPA and the Federal Rural Utilities Service have 18 months to provide guidance to help
states define affordability criteria.
USEPA must periodically review state small system variance programs and may object to proposed variances and overturn
issued variances if objections are not addressed. Also, customers of a system for which a variance is proposed can petition
USEPA to object.
New York may extend deadlines for certain small, unfiltered systems in nine counties to comply with federal filtration
requirements.
Capacity
development
States must acquire authority to ensure that community and nontransient, noncommunity systems beginning operation after
October 1, 1999, have the technical, managerial, and financial capacity to comply with SDWA regulations. States that fail to
acquire authority lose 20% of their annual state revolving loan fund grants.
States have 1 year to send USEPA a list of systems with a history of significant noncompliance and 5 years to report on the
success of enforcement mechanisms and initial capacity development efforts. State primacy agencies must also provide
progress reports to governors and the public.
