AUGUST 4, 2025 - ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLIANCE ORDER
On January 15, 2021, EPA promulgated the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (?LCRR?). The LCRR included a requirement for water systems to complete initial inventories of lead service lines by October 16, 2024.
On October 8, 2024, the EPA finalized the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (?LCRI?), which built upon the pre-2021 LCR and 2021 LCRR. Relevant to this Order, the LCRI maintained the LCRR compliance date of October 16, 2024, for initial lead service line inventory, notification of service line material, and associated reporting requirements.
Until a State, Tribe, or Territory has primary enforcement authority for a new or revised National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (?NPDWR?), only the EPA can enforce the NPDWR pursuant to SDWA Section 1414(a)(2), 42 U.S.C. ? 300g-3(a)(2).
Although the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) administers the Public Water Supply Supervision Program in North Carolina pursuant to SDWA Section 1413 of the SDWA, 42 U.S.C. 300g-2, the State of North Carolina has not been granted primacy by the EPA for implementation and enforcement of the LCRI and/or LCRR as of the date of this Order. Therefore, the EPA currently has primary enforcement responsibility for the SDWA LCRR and LCRI.
The System failed to develop and submit its required initial service line inventory to the State by the October 16, 2024, deadline.
Failure to develop an initial inventory by Octob