A third of the way through 2013, new or revised drinking water regulations continue to encounter significant delays as EPA grapples with several issues that affect the pace of the regulatory development process. Most prominently, federal “sequester” funding cuts have gone into full effect, with EPA staff beginning to take the mandatory 10 days of unpaid leave required between now and the end of the fiscal year. This is in addition to implementation of a wide array of programmatic cuts that will delay action on many initiatives. Speaking at AMWA’s 2013 Water Policy Conference (WPC), Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water Director Peter Grevatt acknowledged the challenges his office faces in implementing its regulatory agenda while he stressed that EPA was committed to “getting the science right” regardless of funding and other challenges.
Exacerbating delays is the need to resolve difficult technical issues still confronting several regulatory development processes. At the WPC Grevatt announced his office would pause its development of Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) Revisions (currently listed for a September 2013 proposal on the official regulatory agenda) to engage in additional stakeholder outreach and consultations to reach better consensus on a viable path forward on several issues, including those related to lead service line replacement. This public engagement process should push the proposal of LCR Revisions well into 2014. Difficult technical questions also continue to persist in developing regulations to address Carcinogenic Volatile Organic Compounds as a group and perchlorate (see full discussion of perchlorate issues below), with both initiatives also increasingly unlikely to see a proposal until 2014.
Whether there will be significant action on other regulatory initiatives, including Regulatory Determinations, finished water storage tank inspection requirements and ongoing and new six year reviews, is also uncertain. The prioritization of all regulatory efforts is an ongoing process, and AMWA continues to seek further clarification from EPA management and staff on revised regulatory schedules.