DAR File No. 40032

Environmental Quality, Drinking Water

Section R309-110-4

Definitions

Notice of Proposed Rule

(Amendment)

DAR File No.: 40032
Filed: 12/29/2015 01:56:57 PM

RULE ANALYSIS

Purpose of the rule or reason for the change:

The purpose of this rule change is to adopt the revisions to the federal Total Coliform Rule as required by the federal regulations to maintain primary enforcement authority (primacy) for the rule.

Summary of the rule or change:

The Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR) requires changes to many of the Division's rules; therefore, the information and comments provided in this form will be applicable to the necessary changes to Rules R309-105, R309-110, R309-200, R309-210, R309-211, R309-215, R309-220, and R309-225 in aggregate. In this specific rule, R309-110, the changes made address updates and additions to the definitions. (DAR NOTE: The proposed amendment to Rule R309-105 is under DAR No. 40031, the proposed amendment to Rule R309-110 is under DAR No. 40032, the proposed amendment to Rule R309-200 is under DAR No. 40033, the proposed amendment to Rule R309-210 is under DAR No. 40034, the proposed new Rule R309-211 is under DAR No. 40035, the proposed amendment to Rule R309-215 is under DAR No. 40036, the proposed amendment to Rule R309-220 is under DAR No. 40037, and the proposed amendment to Rule R309-225 is under DAR No. 40038 in this issue, January 15, 2016, of the Bulletin.)

State statutory or constitutional authorization for this rule:

• Section 19-4-104

Anticipated cost or savings to:

the state budget:

Along with the final rule language, EPA presented the estimated increase in annual cost nationwide with the new requirements. They estimate nationwide there will be an increase of $30,000,000. With an implementation plan of monthly monitoring, it would be $30,000,000 nationwide. Utah is a 1% state. As such, the increase projected from the national estimate for Utah would be $300,000, respectively. The costs are estimated to be incurred 90% by public water systems and 10% by the state primacy programs; therefore, the estimated impact to the state budget based on EPA's cost analysis would be $30,000 per year. It is important to note this cost estimate also includes the cost of fixing sanitary defects (significant deficiencies) found in the system infra-structure which would be independently required to be fixed upon discovery during a sanitary survey.

local governments:

For local governments, the cost will not change. Base monitoring will stay the same, and for small communities, the follow-up monitoring requirements have been slightly reduced.

small businesses:

For small businesses that have their own public water system, there will be a cost impact. Base monitoring will switch from one sample per calendar quarter to one sample per month. For routine monitoring, the requirements will increase the samples from 4 per year to 12 per year. The increase in routine sample costs for just the laboratory analysis will be approximately $250 per year. This estimate does not include the transport of the sample to a certified lab. The transportation cost will vary greatly and will likely be mitigated by other required business near certified labs.

persons other than small businesses, businesses, or local governmental entities:

The rule will impact USFS campgrounds and kids camps. Base monitoring will switch from one sample per calendar quarter to one sample per month of operation. Most of these systems operate only part of the year (May through September). For routine monitoring, the requirements will increase the samples from two to three per year to one sample for each month of operation. The increase in routine sample costs for just the laboratory analysis will be approximately $100 to $150 per year. This estimate does not include the transport of the sample to a certified lab. The transportation cost will vary greatly and will likely be mitigated by other required business near certified labs.

Compliance costs for affected persons:

The rule impacts every public water system and every person in the state. It is unlikely the rule will independently impact the water rate structure of any community water system. The relatively small cost impact on transient and non-transient system (recreational type facilities and industrial type facilities) should not independently affect consumer costs.

Comments by the department head on the fiscal impact the rule may have on businesses:

The Executive Director agrees with the fiscal impacts detailed above.

Alan Matheson, Executive Director

The full text of this rule may be inspected, during regular business hours, at the Division of Administrative Rules, or at:

Environmental Quality
Drinking WaterRoom Third Floor
195 N 1950 W
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84116-3085

Direct questions regarding this rule to:

• Patti Fauver at the above address, by phone at 801-536-4196, by FAX at 801-536-4211, or by Internet E-mail at pfauver@utah.gov
• Jennifer Yee at the above address, by phone at 801-536-4216, by FAX at 801-536-4211, or by Internet E-mail at jyee@utah.gov

Interested persons may present their views on this rule by submitting written comments to the address above no later than 5:00 p.m. on:

02/16/2016

Interested persons may attend a public hearing regarding this rule:

• 01/20/2016 01:00 PM, MSOB, 195 N 1950 W, DEQ Board Room 1015, Salt Lake City, UT

This rule may become effective on:

02/23/2016

Authorized by:

Ken Bousfield, Director

R309. Environmental Quality, Drinking Water.

R309-110. Administration: Definitions.

R309-110-4. Definitions.

As used in R309:

"Action Level" means the concentration of lead or copper in drinking water tap samples (0.015 mg/l for lead and 1.3 mg/l for copper) which determines, in some cases, the corrosion treatment, public education and lead line replacement requirements that a water system is required to complete.

"AF" means acre foot and is the volume of water required to cover an acre to a depth of one foot (one AF is equivalent to 325,851 gallons).

"Air gap" The unobstructed vertical distance through the free atmosphere between the lowest opening from any pipe or faucet supplying water to a tank, catch basin, plumbing fixture or other device and the flood level rim of the receptacle. This distance shall be two times the diameter of the effective opening for openings greater than one inch in diameter where walls or obstructions are spaced from the nearest inside edge of the pipe opening a distance greater than three times the diameter of the effective openings for a single wall, or a distance greater than four times the diameter of the effective opening for two intersecting walls. This distance shall be three times the diameter of the effective opening where walls or obstructions are closer than the distances indicated above.

"ANSI/NSF" refers to the American National Standards Institute and NSF International. NSF International has prepared at least two health effect standards dealing with treatment chemicals added to drinking water and system components that will come into contact with drinking water, these being Standard 60 and Standard 61. The American National Standards Institute acts as a certifying agency, and determines which laboratories may certify to these standards.

"Approval" unless indicated otherwise, shall be taken to mean a written statement of acceptance from the Director.

"Approved" refers to a rating placed on a system by the Division and means that the public water system is operating in substantial compliance with all the Rules of R309.

"Average Yearly Demand" means the amount of water delivered to consumers by a public water system during a typical year, generally expressed in MG or AF.

"AWWA" refers to the American Water Works Association located at 6666 West Quincy Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80235. Reference within these rules is generally to a particular Standard prepared by AWWA and which has completed the ANSI approval process such as ANSI/AWWA Standard C651-92 (AWWA Standard for Disinfecting Water Mains).

"Backflow" means the undesirable reversal of flow of water or mixtures of water and other liquids, gases, or other substances into the distribution pipes of the potable water supply from any source. Also see backsiphonage, backpressure and cross-connection.

"Backpressure" means the phenomena that occurs when the customer's pressure is higher than the supply pressure, This could be caused by an unprotected cross connection between a drinking water supply and a pressurized irrigation system, a boiler, a pressurized industrial process, elevation differences, air or steam pressure, use of booster pumps or any other source of pressure. Also see backflow, backsiphonage and cross connection.

"Backsiphonage" means a form of backflow due to a reduction in system pressure which causes a subatmospheric or negative pressure to exist at a site or point in the water system. Also see backflow and cross-connection.

"Bag Filters" are pressure-driven separation devices that remove particle matter larger than 1 micrometer using an engineered porous filtration media. They are typically constructed of a non-rigid, fabric filtration media housed in a pressure vessel in which the direction of flow is from the inside of the bag to outside.

"Bank Filtration" is a water treatment process that uses a well to recover surface water that has naturally infiltrated into ground water through a river bed or bank(s). Infiltration is typically enhanced by the hydraulic gradient imposed by a nearby pumping water supply or other well(s).

"Best Available Technology" (BAT) means the best technology, treatment techniques, or other means which the Director finds, after examination under field conditions and not solely under laboratory conditions, are available (taking cost into consideration). For the purposes of setting MCLs for synthetic organic chemicals, any BAT must be at least as effective as granular activated carbon for all these chemicals except vinyl chloride. Central treatment using packed tower aeration is also identified as BAT for synthetic organic chemicals.

"Board" means the Drinking Water Board.

"Body Politic" means the State or its agencies or any political subdivision of the State to include a county, city, town, improvement district, taxing district or any other governmental subdivision or public corporation fo the State.

"Breakpoint Chlorination" means addition of chlorine to water until the chlorine demand has been satisfied. At this point, further addition of chlorine will result in a free residual chlorine that is directly proportional to the amount of chlorine added beyond the breakpoint.

"C" is short for "Residual Disinfectant Concentration."

"Capacity Development" means technical, managerial, and financial capabilities of the water system to plan for, achieve, and maintain compliance with applicable drinking water standards.

"Cartridge filters" are pressure-driven separation devices that remove particulate matter larger than 1 micrometer using an engineered porous filtration media. They are typically constructed as rigid or semi-rigid, self-supporting filter elements housed in pressure vessels in which flow is from the outside of the cartridge to the inside.

"cfs" means cubic feet per second and is one way of expressing flowrate (one cfs is equivalent to 448.8 gpm).

"Class" means the level of certification of Backflow Prevention Technician (Class I, II or III).

"Clean compliance history" means a record of no MCL violations; and no coliform treatment technique trigger exceedances or treatment technique violations.

"Coagulation" is the process of destabilization of the charge (predominantly negative) on particulates and colloids suspended in water. Destabilization lessens the repelling character of particulates and colloids and allows them to become attached to other particles so that they may be removed in subsequent processes. The particulates in raw waters (which contribute to color and turbidity) are mainly clays, silt, viruses, bacteria, fulvic and humic acids, minerals (including asbestos, silicates, silica, and radioactive particles), and organic particulate.

"Collection area" means the area surrounding a ground-water source which is underlain by collection pipes, tile, tunnels, infiltration boxes, or other ground-water collection devices.

"Combined distribution system" is the interconnected distribution system consisting of the distribution systems of wholesale systems and of the consecutive systems that receive finished water.

"Commission" means the Operator Certification Commission.

"Community Water System" (CWS) means a public water system which serves at least 15 service connections used by year-round residents or regularly serves at least 25 year-round residents.

"Compliance cycle" means the nine-year calendar year cycle during which public water systems must monitor. Each compliance cycle consists of three three-year compliance periods. The first calendar year cycle began January 1, 1993 and ends December 31, 2001; the second begins January 1, 2002 and ends December 31, 2010; the third begins January 1, 2011 and ends December 31, 2019.

"Compliance period" means a three-year calendar year period within a compliance cycle. Each compliance cycle has three three-year compliance periods. Within the first compliance cycle, the first compliance period ran from January 1, 1993 to December 31, 1995; the second from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 1998; and the third is from January 1, 1999 to December 31, 2001.

 

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"Lead service line" means a service line made of lead which connects the water main to the building inlet and any lead pigtail, gooseneck or other fitting which is connected to such lead line.

"Legionella" means a genus of bacteria, some species of which have caused a type of pneumonia called Legionnaires Disease.

"Level 1 assessment" means an evaluation to identify the possible presence of sanitary defects, defects in distribution system coliform monitoring practices, and (when possible) the likely reason that the system triggered the assessment. It is conducted by the system operator or owner. Minimum elements include review and identification of atypical events that could affect distributed water quality or indicate that distributed water quality was impaired; changes in distribution system maintenance and operation that could affect distributed water quality (including water storage); source and treatment considerations that bear on distributed water quality, where appropriate (e.g., whether a ground water system is disinfected); existing water quality monitoring data; and inadequacies in sample sites, sampling protocol, and sample processing. The system must conduct the assessment consistent with any State directives that tailor specific assessment elements with respect to the size and type of the system and the size, type, and characteristics of the distribution system.

"Level 2 assessment" means an evaluation to identify the possible presence of sanitary defects, defects in distribution system coliform monitoring practices, and (when possible) the likely reason that the system triggered the assessment. A Level 2 assessment provides a more detailed examination of the system (including the system's monitoring and operational practices) than does a Level 1 assessment through the use of more comprehensive investigation and review of available information, additional internal and external resources, and other relevant practices. It is conducted by an individual approved by the State, which may include the system operator. Minimum elements include review and identification of atypical events that could affect distributed water quality or indicate that distributed water quality was impaired; changes in distribution system maintenance and operation that could affect distributed water quality (including water storage); source and treatment considerations that bear on distributed water quality, where appropriate (e.g., whether a ground water system is disinfected); existing water quality monitoring data; and inadequacies in sample sites, sampling protocol, and sample processing. The system must conduct the assessment consistent with any State directives that tailor specific assessment elements with respect to the size and type of the system and the size, type, and characteristics of the distribution system. The system must comply with any expedited actions or additional actions required by the State in the case of an E. coli MCL violation.

"Locational running annual average (LRAA)" is the average of sample analytical results for samples taken at a particular monitoring location during the previous four calendar quarters.

 

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"Safe Yield" means the annual quantity of water that can be taken from a source of supply over a period of years without depleting the source beyond its ability to be replenished naturally in "wet years".

"Sanitary defect" means a defect that could provide a pathway of entry for microbial contamination into the distribution system or that is indicative of a failure or imminent failure in a barrier that is already in place.

"Sanitary Seal" means a cap that prevents contaminants from entering a well through the top of the casing.

"scfm/sf" means standard cubic foot per minute per square foot and is one way of expressing flowrate of air at standard density through a filter or duct area.

"Seasonal system" means a non-community water system that is not operated as a public water system on a year-round basis and starts up and shuts down at the beginning and end of each operating season. "Secondary Disinfection" means the adding of an acceptable secondary disinfectant to assure that the quality of the water is maintained throughout the distribution system. The effectiveness is measured by maintaining detectable disinfectant residuals throughout the distribution system. Acceptable secondary disinfectants are chlorine, chloramine, and chlorine dioxide.

"Secondary Maximum Contaminant Level" means the advisable maximum level of contaminant in water which is delivered to any user of a public water system.

"Secretary to the Subcommittee" means that individual appointed by the Director to conduct the business of the Subcommittee.

"Sedimentation" means a process for removal of solids before filtration by gravity or separation.

"Semi-Developed Camp" means a campground accessible by any type of vehicular traffic. Facilities are provided for both protection of site and comfort of users. Roads, trails and campsites are defined and basic facilities (water, flush toilets and/or vault toilets, tables, fireplaces or tent pads) are provided. These camps include but are not limited to National Forest campgrounds, Bureau of Reclamation campgrounds, and youth camps.

"Service Connection" means the constructed conveyance by which a dwelling, commercial or industrial establishment, or other water user obtains water from the supplier's distribution system. Multiple dwelling units such as condominiums or apartments, shall be considered to have a single service connection, if fed by a single line, for the purpose of microbiological repeat sampling; but shall be evaluated by the supplier as multiple "equivalent residential connections" for the purpose of source and storage capacities.

"Service Factor" means a rating on a motor to indicate an increased horsepower capacity beyond nominal nameplate capacity for occasional overload conditions.

"Service line sample" means a one-liter sample of water collected in accordance with R309-210-6(3)(b)(iii), that has been standing for at least 6 hours in a service line.

 

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KEY: drinking water, definitions

Date of Enactment or Last Substantive Amendment: [May 9, 2011]2016

Notice of Continuation: March 13, 2015

Authorizing, and Implemented or Interpreted Law: 19-4-104