KRC Comments On Proposed Revisions to Drinking Water System Regulations Posted: July 1, 2009
June 30, 2009
Abigail Powell, Regulations Coordinator
Division of Water
200 Fair Oaks Lane
Frankfort, KY 40601
RE: Proposed Regulations 401 KAR 8:510, 401 KAR 8:075, 401 KAR 8:010, 401 KAR 8:6000, 401 KAR 8:022
Dear Ms. Powell:
The following comments are submitted on behalf of the Kentucky Resources Council, Inc. after a review of the proposed amendments to 401 KAR 8:510, 401 KAR 8:075, 401 KAR 8:600, and 401 KAR 8:022:
The Council has no comment on the proposed amendments to 401 KAR 8:510 and 401 KAR 8:075. Comments to the amendments proposed to regulations 401 KAR 8:010, 401 KAR 8:600, and 401 KAR 8:022 are addressed below.
401 KAR 8:010
The Council suggests that in addition to the changes already proposed by the Cabinet, that the Cabinet make one change to the definition of “Operator” at Section 1(19). (p. 4,line 22). Currently, “Operator” is defined as “a person.” The Council requests that the Cabinet change the definition from “a person” to “each person” so that where facilities have more than one operator the requirements for operators will apply to each operator, rather than to only one of the operators at a particular facility.
401 KAR 8:600
The Council’s sole concern with regard to 401 KAR 8:600 deals with Section 1(1)(b) of the proposed amendments to this section. The Council is unopposed to the substance of the changes in this section, but is concerned that the frequency of sampling, analyzing, and reporting is ambiguous. The proposed amendment states that the required analyzing, sampling and reporting should be done “annually, or if consumer complaints indicate the presence of one (1) or more of these contaminants.” (p.2, line 18-19, emphasis added). The word “or” in this statement creates a potential uncertainty as to whether the requirements in this section attach yearly and when a consumer complains, or if the company can choose to comply with the section either annually or where relevant consumer complaints are received.
To ensure that water treatment is adequate, the Council recommends that the word “or” in line 18 is changed to the word “and” so that the section clearly requires, at a minimum, annual sampling, analysis, and reporting, and additional sampling, analysis, and reporting where relevant consumer complaints are received.
401 KAR 8:022
While the Council has no comment on the proposed changes to regulation 401 KAR 8:022, the Council does recommend that the Cabinet consider two additional changes to the existing regulation, both in Section 2. First, in the proposed renumbered Section 2(1) the regulation states, “If the cabinet identifies a deficiency of a public water system in a sanitary survey report that is not significant, the public water system shall correct or otherwise address the deficiency.” (p.4, lines 4-5). The Council feels that the language “or otherwise address the deficiency” is unclear and that the regulation should be amended to more precisely define what type of practices are adequate to address a deficiency without correcting it.
In addition, the regulation does not state what happens when a public water system fails to correct an insignificant deficiency. The Council recommends that failure to correct an insignificant deficiency within the time allotted should bump up that deficiency into the "significant” category.
Second, in the proposed renumbered Section 2(2)(a), the regulation defines a significant deficiency as one that “is part of a recurring pattern of noncompliance with the administrative regulations in 401 KAR Chapter 8.” (p.4, lines 7-8). The Council suggests that the Cabinet amend the regulation to more clearly define what a “recurring pattern” means. The Council believes that three or more violations of either the same or similar regulation, or three or more violations of different provisions within a twelve-month period would be an appropriate standard.
Thank you in advance for consideration of these comments.
Sincerely,
Liz D. Edmondson
Staff Attorney
Kentucky Resources Council
P.O. Box 1070
Frankfort, KY 40602
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