Related Issues
EPA to Develop National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence Data Base
Background: Section 126(g)(1) of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 (SDWA) requires the Administrator to assemble and maintain a national drinking water contaminant occurrence database by using
information on the occurrence of both regulated and unregulated contaminants in public water systems and reliable information from other public and private sources. This National Contaminant Occurrence Database (NCOD) will be a collection of data of documented quality on unregulated and regulated chemical or microbial contaminants likely to occur in drinking water systems. The purpose of the data system is to support the identification and selection of contaminants for future regulation or other appropriate actions and to support the review of existing regulations for possible modification. The database must be developed no later than three years after the date of enactment of the SDWA Amendments. Therefore, SDWA requires the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (OGWDW) to develop the NCOD by August 6, 1999. At the May 1997 NCOD Stakeholders meeting, there was general concurrence that the primary user of the database will be EPA. Stakeholders such as industry, environmental groups, States and the general public are secondary users. As a result of the meeting, the NCOD Team established a system development strategy. The strategy will serve as a ``road map'' over the next two years for developing the first release of the data base to meet the statutory requirements. One of the major steps in implementing the development strategy is to determine what the needs are and specifically what types of data are required to meet those needs. User requirements will serve as the foundation upon which the database will be developed.
Status: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has scheduled a five-day Joint Requirement Planning (JRP) meeting on EPA's development of a National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence Data Base (NCOD). The JRP is a structured meeting designed to gather requirements on a new information system from a varied body of stakeholders with an interest in the system. At the upcoming meeting, EPA is seeking input from key national, State, individual stakeholders and other interested parties concerning the objectives, questions and data elements to be addressed in the design and development of the NCOD. The meeting will be held on November 17-21, 1997. CONTACT: Harriet Colbert, EPA 202/260-2302 or colbert.harriet@epamail.epa.gov.
Joint EPA/State Agreement to Pursue Regulatory Innovation
Background: In order to find new, better and more efficient and effective ways to improve environmental protection, the Environmental Council of States (ECOS) and EPA formed a joint task group to develop an agreement on EPA-State regulatory innovation. The purposes of the agreement are to: 1) improve environmental protection in the United States; 2) improve EPA/State environmental management systems; and 3) provide for timely decision-making on innovation proposals. The agreement establishes guiding principles for innovation and an efficient process that is receptive to innovative proposals from the States for achieving shared environmental objectives. The agreement is intended to encourage and facilitate the exploration of ideas which are potentially more cost-effective and/or have a better environmental impact. It also hopes to improve decision-making between the States and EPA on innovation proposals, emphasizing clear lines of communication, decision authority, accountability and timeliness. It will provide opportunities for stakeholder involvement at the state and national levels. One example of regulatory innovation cited in the report was a proposal by the Wisconsin DNR to substitute sludge testing and limit requirements for mercury in place of effluent limits and monitoring requirements in NPDES permits for municipalities. Though the proposal has not been reviewed or approved by EPA, it is one example of what could be suggested under this Agreement.
Example 1: Mercury in Wastewater Effluent
Objective: Substitute sludge testing and limit requirements for mercury in place of effluent limits and monitoring requirements in NPDES permits for municipalities.
Description and expected benefits: Mercury cannot be detected accurately in municipal wastewater effluent. Dilution of mercury in effluent leads to non-detectable monitoring results. In addition, mercury test methods at the low levels seen in municipal effluent can easily pick up contamination of sampling and analysis and lead to false positives. As a result, most municipalities can show compliance with mercury effluent limits and need take no steps to reduce mercury in their effluent. This proposal would eliminate effluent limits from NPDES permits for municipalities, and instead substitute sludge monitoring (where mercury concentrates in the wastewater treatment process). If mercury in sludge exceeds federal clean sludge levels, municipalities would be required to develop mercury source reduction programs. Since mercury can be more accurately detected in sludge, this would lead to better targeting of the municipalities that need to develop mercury source reduction programs.
Federal obstacle halting or hindering progress: Requires changes in either federal statute or variance/change in federal regulations. Attorneys state that sludge requirements as proposed cannot be tied to surface water standards.
Additional background information: This proposal was strongly supported by municipalities, environmental groups, Wisconsin DNR staff, and EPA staff. All saw that this proposal would lead to greater environmental benefits than the current NPDES system.
Status: Comments on the draft agreement are being accepted by EPA until November 28, 1997. A copy of the agreement can be found on the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/reinvent. A public meeting to discuss the draft agreement will be held on Nov. 20, 1997, in Washington, D.C. CONTACT: Gail Robarge, EPA 202/260-9101.