The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) announced it will include small public water systems to participate as Small Entity Representatives (SERs) to provide advice and recommendations to a Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) Panel. The SBAR Panel will focus on USEPA’s development of potential revisions to one or more of the current Microbial and Disinfection Byproducts (MDBP) National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWRs), including Stage 1 and Stage 2 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rules (D/DBPRs); Surface Water Treatment Rule (SWTR); and Long-Term 1 and 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2ESWTR).
The MDBP NPWDRs are a series of interrelated regulations that protect drinking water from microbes, disinfectants, and/or disinfection byproducts (DBPs). The rule revisions are intended to improve existing regulations based on new information on health effects, treatment technologies, analytical methods, occurrence and exposure, and implementation as determined in USEPA’s Six Year Review.
USEPA says it determined revisions to the SWTR will further reduce exposure to microbial pathogens including Cryptosporidium, Giardia lamblia, Legionella, and viruses in drinking water, which have been linked to diseases including gastrointestinal illness such as diarrhea, vomiting, and cramps, as well as Legionnaire’s Disease. USEPA says it is also considering revisions to the D/DBPRs that intend to further limit exposure to DBPs, which can form in water when disinfectants used to control microbial pathogens react with natural and human-caused materials found in source water and have been linked to adverse health outcomes.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires agencies to establish an SBAR Panel for rules that may have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The SBAR Panel will include Federal representatives from the Small Business Administration, the Office of Management and Budget, and USEPA. The Panel members will ask a select group of SERs to provide advice and recommendations on behalf of their company, government, or organization to inform the Panel members about potential impacts of proposed rule changes on small entities.
Learn more information about the MDBP rule revisions on the USEPA website.