| (a) Tier 1 public notification requirements for acute
violations or situations with significant potential to have serious
adverse effects on human health as a result of short-term exposure
which require a Tier 1 public notice as described in this subsection.
The owner or operator of a public water system must notify persons
served by their system of any maximum contaminant level (MCL), maximum
residual disinfectant level (MRDL), treatment technique violation,
or other situation that poses an acute threat to public health. Each
notice required by this section must meet the requirements of subsection
(d) of this section.
(1) Situations that pose an acute threat to public
health include:
(A) a violation of the Escherichia
coli (E. coli) MCL as described in §290.109(g)(1)(A) -
(D) of this title (relating to Microbial Contaminants);
(B) an acute turbidity issue at a treatment plant that
is treating surface water or groundwater under the direct influence
of surface water, specifically:
(i) a combined filter effluent turbidity level above
5.0 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU);
(ii) a combined filter effluent turbidity level above
1.0 NTU at a treatment plant using membrane filters;
(iii) a combined filter effluent turbidity level above
1.0 NTU at a plant using other than membrane filters at the discretion
of the executive director after consultation with the system;
(iv) failure of a system with treatment other than
membrane filters to consult with the executive director within 24
hours after a combined filter effluent reading of 1.0 NTU;
(v) failure of a system to meet turbidity level, monitoring,
and/or reporting requirements as described in §290.111(i)(3)
of this title (relating to Surface Water Treatment); or
(vi) failure of a system to meet treatment, turbidity
level, monitoring, and/or reporting requirements as described in §290.111(i)(4)
of this title;
(C) a violation of the MCL for nitrate or nitrite as
defined in §290.106(f)(2) of this title (relating to Inorganic
Contaminants);
(D) a violation of the acute MRDL for chlorine dioxide
as defined in §290.110(f)(5)(A) or (B) of this title (relating
to Disinfectant Residuals);
(E) occurrence of a waterborne disease outbreak;
(F) Detection of E. coli or
other fecal indicators in source water samples as specified in §290.109(h)(2)
of this title, which requires a public notice to be issued within
24 hours of notification of the positive sample;
(G) other situations that have the potential to have
serious adverse effects on health as a result of short-term exposure;
and
(H) at the discretion of the executive director, other
situations may require a Tier 1 public notice based on a threat to
public health.
(2) The initial Tier 1 acute public notice and/or boil
water notice required by this subsection shall be issued as soon as
possible, but in no case later than 24 hours after the violation or
situation is identified. The initial public notice for an acute violation
or situation shall be issued in one or more of the following manners
that are reasonably calculated to reach persons served by the public
water system within the required time period.
(A) The owner or operator of a public water system
with an acute microbiological or turbidity violation as described
in paragraph (1)(A) or (B) of this subsection shall include a boil
water notice issued in accordance with the requirements of §290.46(q)
of this title (relating to Minimum Acceptable Operating Practices
for Public Drinking Water Systems). Public water systems are not required
to issue a boil water notice under the conditions as referenced in
paragraph (1)(B)(vi) of this subsection, unless required at the discretion
of the executive director in accordance with §290.46(q)(5) of
this title.
(B) The owner or operator of a community water system
shall furnish a copy of the notice to the radio and television stations
serving the area served by the public water system.
(C) The owner or operator of a community water system
shall publish the notice in a daily newspaper of general circulation
in the area served by the system. If the area is not served by a daily
newspaper of general circulation, notice shall instead be issued by
direct delivery or by continuous posting in conspicuous places within
the area served by the system. Other methods of delivery may include
electronic delivery or alert systems (e.g., reverse 911).
(D) The owner or operator of a noncommunity water system
shall issue the notice by direct delivery or by continuously posting
the notice in conspicuous places within the area served by the water
system. Other methods of delivery may include electronic delivery
or alert systems (e.g., reverse 911).
(E) If notice is provided by posting, the posting must
remain in place for as long as the violation or situation exists or
seven days, whichever is longer.
(3) The owner or operator of a water system required
to issue an initial notice for an acute MCL or treatment technique
violation shall issue additional notices. The additional public notices
for acute violations shall be issued in the following manner.
(A) Not later than 45 days after the violation, the
owner or operator of a community water system shall notify persons
served by the system using mail (by direct mail or with the water
bill) or hand delivery. The executive director may waive mail or hand
delivery if it is determined that the violation was corrected within
the 45-day period. The executive director must make the waiver in
writing and within the 45-day period.
(B) The owner or operator of a community water system
must issue a notice at least once every three months by mail delivery
(by direct mail or with the water bill) or by hand delivery, for as
long as the violation exists.
(C) If the owner or operator of a noncommunity water
system issued the initial notice by continuous posting, posting must
continue for as long as the violation exists and in no case less than
seven days. If the owner or operator of a noncommunity water system
issued the initial notice by direct delivery, notice by direct delivery
must be repeated at least every three months for as long as the violation
exists.
(4) Copies of all notifications required under this
subsection must be submitted to the executive director within ten
days of its distribution.
(b) Tier 2 public notification requirements for other
MCL, MRDL, or treatment technique violations and for variance and
exemption violations which are violations and situations with potential
to have serious adverse effects on human health, as defined in this
subsection. The owner or operator of a public water system must notify
persons served by their system of any MCL, MRDL, or treatment technique
violation other than those described in subsection (a)(1) of this
section and of any violation involving a variance or exemption requirement.
Each notice required by this section must meet the requirements of
subsection (d) of this section.
(1) Violations that require notification under this
subsection include:
(A) any violation of an MCL, MRDL, or treatment technique
not listed under subsection (a) of this section;
(B) failure to comply with the requirements of any
variance or exemption granted under §290.102(d) of this title
(relating to General Applicability);
(C) failure for a groundwater system to take corrective
action, including uncorrected significant deficiencies, or failure
to maintain at least 4-log treatment of viruses (using inactivation,
removal, or a combination of 4-log virus inactivation and removal
approved by the executive director) before or at the first customer
under §290.116 of this title (relating to Groundwater Corrective
Actions and Treatment Techniques);
(D) failure to perform any three months of raw surface
water monitoring as required by §290.111(b) of this title or
request bin classification from the executive director under §290.111(c)(3)(A)
of this title;
(E) other violations or situations deemed by the executive
director to have significant potential to have serious adverse effects
on human health as a result of short-term exposure may require a Tier
1 public notice as described in subsection (a)(2) of this section;
or
(F) failure of a public water system to conduct Level
1 assessment(s) or Level 2 assessment(s) or failure to complete corrective/expedited
action(s) as required by §290.109 of this title or failure of
a system to conduct seasonal start-up procedures as required by §290.109
of this title.
(2) The initial Tier 2 public notice for any violation,
situation, or significant deficiency identified in this subsection
must be issued as soon as possible, but in no case later than 30 days
after the violation is identified. The initial public notice shall
be issued in the following manner.
(A) The owner or operator of a community water system
shall issue the notice by:
(i) mail or other direct delivery to each customer
receiving a bill and to other service connections to which water is
delivered by the public water system; and
(ii) any other method reasonably calculated to reach
other persons regularly served by the system, if they would not normally
be reached by the notice required in clause (i) of this subparagraph.
Such persons may include those who do not pay water bills or do not
have service connection addresses (e.g., house renters, apartment
dwellers, university students, nursing home patients, prison inmates,
etc.) Other methods may include: publication in a local newspaper;
delivery of multiple copies for distribution by customers that provide
drinking water to others (e.g., apartment building owners or large
private employers); continuous posting in conspicuous public places
within the area served by the system or on the Internet; electronic
delivery or alert systems (e.g., reverse 911); or delivery to community
organizations.
(B) The owner or operator of a noncommunity water system
shall issue the notice by:
(i) posting the notice in conspicuous locations throughout
the distribution system frequented by persons served by the system,
or by mail or direct delivery to each customer and service connection
(where known); and
(ii) any other method reasonably calculated to reach
other persons served by the system if they would not normally be reached
by the notice. Such persons may include those served who may not see
a posted notice because the posted notice is not in a location they
routinely pass by. Other methods may include: publication in a local
newspaper or newsletter distributed to customers; use of e-mail to
notify employees or students; electronic delivery or alert systems
(e.g., reverse 911); or, delivery of multiple copies in central locations
(e.g., community centers).
(C) If notice is provided by posting, the posting must
remain in place for as long as the violation exists or seven days,
whichever is longer.
(3) The owner or operator of a system required to issue
an initial violation notice shall issue additional notices. The additional
notices shall be issued in the following manner.
(A) The owner or operator of a community water system
must issue a notice at least once every three months by mail delivery
(by direct mail or with the water bill) or by direct delivery, for
as long as the violation exists.
(B) If the owner or operator of a noncommunity water
system issued the initial notice by continuously posting the notice,
the posting must continue for as long as the violation exists, and
in no case less than seven days. If the owner or operator of a noncommunity
water system issued the initial notice by direct delivery, notice
by direct delivery must be repeated at least every three months for
as long as the violation exists.
(c) Tier 3 public notification requirements for other
violations, situations, variances, exemptions as defined in this subsection.
The owner or operator of a public water system who fails to perform
monitoring required by this chapter, fails to comply with a testing
procedure established by this chapter, or is subject to a variance
or exemption granted under §290.102(b) of this title shall notify
persons served by the system. Each notice required by this section
must meet the requirements of subsection (d) of this section.
(1) Violations or other situations that require notification
as described in this subsection include:
(A) exceedance of the secondary constituent levels
(SCL) for fluoride;
(B) failure to perform monitoring or reporting required
by this subchapter;
(C) failure to comply with the analytical requirements
or testing procedures required by this subchapter;
(D) operating under a variance or exemption granted
under §290.102(b) of this title;
(E) failure to maintain records on recycle practices
as required by §290.46(f)(3)(C)(iii) of this title;
(F) a community and nontransient, noncommunity public
water system shall notify its customers of the availability of unregulated
contaminant monitoring results, as required under 40 Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) §141.207;
(G) failure of a community and nontransient, noncommunity
water public water system to notify of the availability of unregulated
contaminant monitoring results, as required under 40 CFR §141.207;
Cont'd... |
