Meetings: Chemical monitoring revisions and alternative monitoring guidelines for publicwater systems; stakeholders,

[Federal Register: December 16, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 241)]

[Proposed Rules]

[Page 69256]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr16de98-29]

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 141 and 142

[FRL-6202-1]

Stakeholders Meeting on Chemical Monitoring Revisions for Public Water Systems

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Announcement of stakeholders meeting.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a two-day public meeting on January 12 and January 13, 1999 in Washington, D.C. Please be advised that if the agenda is completed on January 12, the meeting will not resume on January 13, 1999. The purpose of this meeting will be to collect input on the appropriate course of action to take with the Agency's effort to revise the monitoring requirements for certain chemicals in drinking water. The EPA has completed a review of new occurrence data and intends to present a summary of these findings at the meeting. The data reviewed and analyzed includes public water supply (PWS) compliance monitoring data and data from other water-quality contaminant occurrence data bases. Most of the data was formatted to extrapolate information regarding contaminant occurrence rates, occurrence by contaminant groups, contaminant co-occurrence, system vulnerability to synthetic and volatile organic compounds, seasonal and temporal variations, contaminant variability categorized by source and system size, and an evaluation of the national representativeness of the data sets.

The EPA will consider the comments and views expressed during this meeting to determine whether it should proceed with the suggested revisions as presented in the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule Making (ANPRM) for Chemical Monitoring Reform or consider other approaches and modifications. The EPA encourages the full participation of all stakeholders throughout this process.

DATES: The stakeholder meeting will be held on January 12, 1999, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and may be extended to January 13, 1999 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST in Washington, D.C.

ADDRESSES: To register for the meeting, please contact the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791, or Ed Thomas of the EPA's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water at (202) 260-0910. Participants registering in advance will be mailed a packet of materials before the meeting. Interested parties who cannot attend the meeting in person may participate via conference call and should register with the Safe Drinking Water Hotline. Conference lines will be allocated on the basis of first reserved, first served. The stakeholder meeting will be held at the Wyndham Bristol Hotel, 2430 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on meeting logistics, please contact the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426- 4791. For information on the activities related to this rulemaking, contact: Ed Thomas, U.S. EPA at (202) 260-0910 or E-mail to thomas.edwin@epamail.epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 3, 1997, EPA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rule Making (ANPRM) for Chemical Monitoring Reform (CMR) and Permanent Monitoring Relief (PMR). This ANPRM suggested regulatory changes in chemical monitoring requirements that would focus monitoring on systems at risk of contamination and on the contaminants posing such risk. The regulatory changes suggested in the ANPRM covered 64 chronic contaminants including inorganic chemicals (IOCs), synthetic organic chemicals (SOCs) and volatile organic chemicals (VOCs).

The monitoring changes suggested in the ANPRM were developed, in part, considering the occurrence data that were available at that time. Recognizing that these data were limited, we solicited additional data for use in developing the proposed rule. In response to this solicitation and as part of additional information gathering, EPA identified 17 potential data sources. The Agency completed a preliminary review of these data sets and presented a summary of that review at a stakeholder meeting on April 6, 1998, in Washington, D.C. On the basis of its initial review and consultation with stakeholders, the EPA was not able to say that the new data were simply supplementary data that supported and confirmed the possible changes to the monitoring requirements set forth in the ANPRM. Stakeholders at the April 6 meeting agreed with this decision. Following the April 6 Stakeholder meeting, EPA published a Federal Register Notice on July 30, 1998 indicating that the Agency had completed a review of the monitoring requirements for chemical contaminants in drinking water and believed that it was inappropriate to proceed with the ANPRM until it had completed its analysis of the new data.

Stakeholders at the April 6 meeting also requested that a ``data analysis plan'' be forwarded to them for review. On June 8, 1998, the plan was sent to the Stakeholders. The EPA incorporated stakeholder comments and proceeded with data analyses in accordance with the plan. The Agency has completed its review of the data and intends to present their findings at the two-day stakeholder meeting on January 12 and 13, 1999. Cynthia C. Dougherty, Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water.

[FR Doc. 98-33116Filed12-15-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P