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Leah A. Guzman Environmental Program Specialist Drinking Water Program

Sustained Compliance—What It Means to Public Water System Owners and Operators September 23 – 24, 2010 Anchorage, Alaska Public Notification Rule and How to Use PN i writer. Leah A. Guzman Environmental Program Specialist Drinking Water Program

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Leah A. Guzman Environmental Program Specialist Drinking Water Program

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  1. Sustained Compliance—What It Means to Public Water System Owners and Operators September 23 – 24, 2010 Anchorage, Alaska Public Notification Rule and How to Use PNiwriter Leah A. Guzman Environmental Program Specialist Drinking Water Program Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation

  2. PRESENTATION OUTLINE What is a Public Notification? Overview of Public Notification Rule (PNR) Sample Exercise What is Pniwriter? How to use Pniwriter Key Pointers of PNR

  3. What Is Public Notification Rule? • EPA regulation requiring all public water systems to alert consumers to potential health risks from violations of drinking water standards • Established under 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and amended in 1986 and 1996 • Regulations define the form, manner, content, and frequency of public notice

  4. Overview of the PN Rule Who, What, When, Where, and Why of the PNR • WHO – Gives, receives, and keeps records of PN • WHAT – Types, 10 elements, multilingual requirement • WHEN – Deadlines and Frequencies • WHERE – Delivery Methods • WHY – Violations and situations, health effects, and corrections

  5. Overview of the PN Rule Public Water System (PWS)* is a water system that serves regularly at least 25 persons daily, at least 60 days of the year, or has at least 15 service connections. PWS is either Community (CWS) or Non-Community (NCWS) water system. CFR 141.2 *NOTE: These are public water systems that must comply with federal regulations.

  6. Overview of the PN Rule Consecutive public water system is a water system that receives some or all of its finished water from one or more wholesale systems. Delivery may be through direct connection or distribution system of one or more consecutive systems. CFR141.2

  7. Overview of the PN Rule Who gives PN? – 40 CFR 141.201 (a) “Each PWS owner or operator (CWS, NTNC, TNC) must give notice for all violations of national primary drinking water regulations (NPDWR) and for other situations as listed in Table 1 under 40 CFR 141.201, and as determined by the primacy agency, for other situations not outlined in the regulation that may pose a threat to public health.”

  8. Overview of the PN Rule Who must be notified? - CFR 141.201 (c) Each person served by the public water system. A copy of the PN must also be sent to the state (DEC), in accordance with the requirements under 40 CFR 141.31 (d). Who must keep records? - CFR 141.201 PWS and States must keep copies of notice and certifications on file for three years.

  9. Overview of the PN Rule Who gives PN – Consecutive Systems? 40 CFR 141.201 (2) Wholesale public water systems that sell or otherwise provide drinking water to other public water systems are required to give public notice to the owner or operator of the consecutive systems. Consecutive system owners or operators are responsible to provide public notice to the persons they serve.

  10. Overview of the PN Rule What are the types of PN? – 40 CFR 141.201(b) Public notice requirements are divided into three tiers: • Tier 1 -- Acute violations • Tier 2 -- Other serious violations • Tier 3 -- All other violations Appendix A of the PN Rule lists tier assignments for violations or other situations requiring public notice

  11. Overview of the PN Rule

  12. Overview of the PN Rule

  13. Overview of the PN Rule • Each public notice must address Ten elements: 40 CFR 141.205 • 1) Description of the violation or situation • 2) When the violation or situation occurred • 3) Potential health effects • 4) The population at risk • 5) Whether alternate water supplies should be used • 6) Actions consumers should take • 7) What is being done to correct the violation/situation • 8) When the system expects to return to compliance • 9) Name, number, and business address for more information • 10) Standard distribution language

  14. Exercise: PN for NPDWR Violation Example The system fails to collect the required number of copper samples during the June - September 2000 annual monitoring period. The system also failed to provide certification and/or a copy of the PN to the State. 1. What PN tier is the copper tap M/R violation? 2. When was the PN to be delivered to persons served? 3. What is the date of the PN violation? 4. What is the PN violation type code? 1. Tier 3, 2. Within 12 months of violation, 3. October 1, 2001, 4. 75

  15. Basic Information Requirements • Contaminant of concern • Contaminant level(s) found • Date you became aware of violation or situation occurred • Any corrective actions planned or already performed • Date you expect to return to compliance

  16. PniWriter • Web-based program for entering data to generate public notice • Requires username and password designation • FREE access at: http://www.pniwriter.org

  17. KEY POINTERS • Public Notification Rule (PNR) requires PWSs to alert consumers to potential health risks from violations of drinking water standards • PNR applies to CWS, NTNC, TNC public water systems • Tier 1 PN – 24 hours (Acute violations) • Tier 2 PN – 30 days (Serious violations or situations) • Tier 3 PN – 1 year (All other Serious violations or situations) • PniWriter – web-based program provided by EPA as a tool for small water systems to generate public notices • PniWriter – FREE online access- http://www.pniwriter.org

  18. REFERENCES • EPA PN website http://www.epa.gov/safewater/publicnotification/compliancehelp.html • EPA PNR Quick Reference Guide http://www.epa.gov/safewater/publicnotification/pdfs/qrg_publicnotification_rulereferenceguide.pdf • Pniwriter website http://www.pniwriter.org/

  19. Additional Information • For local help, please contact your friendly Environmental Program Specialists assigned in your area • Additional help may be available from your local Environmental Health Offices • My contact information: Leah A. Guzman 907-269-7518 Phone Leah.Guzman@alaska.gov

  20. Thank you for your attention Photo courtesy of water source Alaska image

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