National Primary Drinking Water Regulations: Monitoring Requirements for Public Drinking Water Supplies: Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Viruses, Disinfection Byproducts, Water Treatment Plant Data and Other Information Requirements

Today, EPA is promulgating an information collection rule (ICR) which establishes monitoring and data reporting requirements for large public water systems (PWSs). This rule is intended to provide EPA with information on the occurrence in drinking water of (1) chemical byproducts that form when disinfectants used for microbial control react with chemicals already present in source water (disinfection byproducts (DBPs)) and (2) disease-causing microorganisms (pathogens), including Cryptosporidium. Also, EPA will collect engineering data on how PWSs currently control such contaminants. All data collected pursuant to this rule will be available to the public via the Internet. This information is being collected because a Regulatory Negotiation on disinfectants and DBPs concluded that additional information is needed to assess the potential health problem created by the presence of DBPs and pathogens in drinking water and to assess the extent and severity of risk in order to make sound regulatory and public health decisions. These contaminants may have adverse human health effects, including cancer, liver and kidney damage, and may cause microbial disease such as cryptosporidiosis and hepatitis. EPA will use information generated by this rule, along with concurrent research, to determine whether revisions need to be made to EPA's current drinking water filtration and disinfection rule and to determine the need for new regulations for disinfectants and DBPs. EPA has determined that the rule's objectives can be satisfied, and sufficient information collected, by requiring only large PWSs to collect the data. Surface water systems serving at least 100,000 people and ground water systems serving at least 50,000 must monitor. EPA will supplement this information with EPA-funded surveys that target smaller PWSs. The specific information required is based on the number of people served, the source of water (i.e., surface water or ground water), and the type(s) of treatment use