The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published a September 23rd Federal Register notice stating it had given notice of tentative approval (“Notice”) of the State of Arkansas’ revision of its approved Public Water System Supervision (“PWSS”) program. See 91 Fed. Reg. 60358.
Arkansas is noted to have adopted EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Act (“SDWA”) drinking water rules for its Consumer Confidence Report Rule Revisions.
EPA determined that the Consumer Confidence Report Rule Revisions submitted by Arkansas are no less stringent than the corresponding federal regulations.
The federal SDWA was originally enacted by Congress in 1974 to protect public health by regulating the Nation’s public drinking water supply. The statute authorizes the United States Environmental Protection Agency to set national health-based standards for drinking water to protect against both naturally occurring and man-made contaminants that may be found in drinking water.
A key component of the SDWA is the National Drinking Water Regulations. These are legally enforceable primary standards and treatment techniques that apply to public water systems. Primary standards and treatment techniques are intended to protect public health by limiting the levels of contaminants in drinking water. Public water systems are required to periodically sample their drinking water to determine compliance with the relevant requirements.
Congress amended the SDWA in 1996 to add a provision requiring all community water systems to prepare and deliver to their customers annual water quality Consumer Confidence Reports (“CCR”). These documents provide public water system costumers with information about the quality of drinking water, contaminants in the water, as well as sources of water. Each public water systems must certify to EPA, or in the case of states that have primacy for the program, how the CCR was distributed to customers and other individuals that consume water.
The Arkansas Department of Health has primacy for the SDWA for the state of Arkansas. The Engineering Branch of the Arkansas Department of Health has responsibility for implementation of this federal program.
A copy of the Federal Register notice can be found here.
The Between the Lines blog is made available by Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard, P.L.L.C. and the law firm publisher. The blog site is for educational purposes only, as well as to give general information and a general understanding of the law. This blog is not intended to provide specific legal advice. Use of this blog site does not create an attorney client relationship between you and Mitchell Williams or the blog site publisher. The Between the Lines blog site should not be used as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.