[Federal Register: April 8, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 67)]
[Notices]               
[Page 17173-17174]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08ap98-77]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5992-7]

 
Stakeholder Meetings on the Public Review Draft Guidelines for 
the Certification and Recertification of the Operators of Community and 
Nontransient Noncommunity Public Water Systems

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Announcement of Stakeholder Meetings.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold three 
regional public meetings to gather information and collect opinions 
from parties who will be affected by or are otherwise interested in the 
Guidelines for the Certification and Recertification of the Operators 
of Community and Nontransient Noncommunity Public Water Systems. EPA 
will consider the comments and views expressed at these meetings in 
developing the final guidelines. EPA encourages the full participation 
of all stakeholders throughout this process.

DATES and LOCATIONS: The stakeholder meetings regarding the Public 
Review Draft Guidelines for the Certification and Recertification of 
the Operators of Community and Nontransient Noncommunity Public Water 
Systems will be held as follows:
    (1) Thursday, April 23, 1998, 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. PT., San 
Francisco, CA.
    (2) Tuesday, June 2, 1998, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET., Washington, 
DC.
    (3) Tuesday, June 9, 1998, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. CT., Dallas, TX.

ADDRESSES: The April 23, 1998 stakeholder meeting will be held in the 
American Samoa Room, U.S. EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San 
Francisco, CA. The June 2, 1998 stakeholder meeting will be held in the 
WIC Conference Room 17, U.S. EPA Headquarters, 401 M Street SW, 
Washington, DC. The June 9, 1998 stakeholder meeting will be held in 
the Arkansas Room, U.S. EPA Region VI, 1445 Ross Avenue, 12th Floor, 
Dallas, TX.
    To register for a meeting, please contact the EPA Safe Drinking 
Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791, or Jenny Jacobs of EPA's Office of 
Ground Water and Drinking Water at (202) 260-2939. Participants 
registering in advance will be mailed a packet of materials before the 
meeting. Interested parties who cannot attend the meeting in person may 
participate via conference call and should register with the Safe 
Drinking Water Hotline. Conference lines are limited and will be 
allocated on the basis of first-reserved, first served.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on meeting 
logistics, please contact the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-
4791. For information on the activities related to these guidelines, 
contact: Jenny Jacobs, U.S. EPA at (202) 260-2939 or e-mail at 
jacobs.jenny@epamail.epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) 
Amendments of 1996 direct the EPA, in cooperation with the States, to 
publish

[[Page 17174]]

guidelines in the Federal Register specifying minimum standards for 
certification and recertification of operators of community and 
nontransient noncommunity public water systems. The final guidelines 
are required to be published by February 6, 1999. States then have two 
years to adopt and implement an operator certification program that 
meets the requirements of these guidelines. After that date, if a State 
has not adopted and implemented an approved program, the EPA must 
withhold 20 percent of the funds a State is otherwise entitled to 
receive in its Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) 
capitalization grants under section 1452 of SDWA.
Elizabeth Fellows,
Acting Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, 
Environmental Protection Agency.
[FR Doc. 98-9242 Filed 4-7-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P