Regulations
PMAA Regulatory Comments
PMAA submitted comments on the Department of Environmental Protection’s Draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (PAG-13).
PMAA also submitted comments on the Department of Environmental Protection’s Public Water Supply Manual – Part II: Community Water System Design Standards (Draft Technical Guidance). Both letters can be viewed on our website.
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Proposed Lead and Copper Rule Inventory (LCRI)
The LCRI was published as a proposed rule on Dec 6, 2023 with a 60-day public comment period. Comments were due to EPA by Feb 5, 2024. Key provisions (from EPA’s website) of the proposed LCRI include:
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The compliance date will be 3 years after promulgation except for:
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Service Line Inventory (SLI)
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Customer notice for lead service lines, galvanized-requiring-replacement lines and unknown lines
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Tier 1 PN for lead Pb 90th percentile action level exceedance.
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The proposed LCRI would require the vast majority of water systems to replace all lead services lines under the control of the water system within 10 years (with limited exceptions).
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The proposed LCRI retains the initial SLI due date of Oct 24, 2024; adds requirement to develop a baseline SLI and update it annually, create a service line replacement plan, and identify the materials of all service lines of unknown material.
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Water systems would be required to collect 1st and 5th liter samples at sites with lead service lines and use the higher of the two values when determining compliance.
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The proposed LCRI lowers the lead action level from 15 µg/L to 10 µg/L and eliminates the trigger level.
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Water systems with multiple lead action level exceedances would be required to conduct additional outreach to customers and make filters that are certified to reduce lead available to all consumers.
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The proposed LCRI will improve public education requirements for water systems by updating the content and delivery frequency for more proactive messaging about lead in drinking water, as well as other revisions to increase transparency.
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The proposed LCRI retains requirement for lead testing in schools.
EPA Comparison Guide of Pre-2021 LCR, LCRR, Proposed LCRI
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Development of Environmental Regulations in Pennsylvania
Municipal authorities, as well as other units of local government, are subject to numerous regulations, which form the basis for a wide variety of permitting, record-keeping and reporting, compliance monitoring and assessment and, in some cases, enforcement activities. Most of these activities center on environmental and public health protection.
All regulations must be reviewed and approved, both as proposed and final rule making, by the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) which normally meets monthly.
Prior to developing or revising a regulation, DEP programs typically discuss such changes with one or more Advisory Committees. PMAA has member representatives on several of DEP’s Advisory Committees.
The entire process by which any DEP regulation is proposed, reviewed and finalized is quite lengthy and complex and is governed by the PA Regulatory Review Act. It is not unusual for this process to take up to two years. The Regulatory Process flowchart outlines the procedure.
On-line access to all state environmental regulations is available at PA Code Online and are listed as various Articles and Chapters under Title 25: Environmental Protection. On-line access to all state environmental regulations being proposed are available at PA Bulletin.
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Technical Guidance
While Pennsylvania’s environmental regulations are numerous and complex, DEP has found it necessary to further clarify the intent of many regulations through development of supplemental technical guidance documents. Like regulations, development of a technical guidance generally involves going through a public participation process (including use of advisory committees).