A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) provides recommendations for improved implementation of EPA’s Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR). Recommendations in the report include expanding the number of monitored contaminants beyond the current limit of 30 (when it can be done with minimal additional burden) and making alterations to sampling frequencies to better reflect variable or sporadic occurrence.
A significant portion of the GAO report also focuses on the usability of UCMR data in support of regulatory development. The report recommends that EPA take a closer look at the alignment of UCMR data collection (and subsequent analyses) with regulatory determinations, noting that current statutory schedules may require EPA to make determinations for a contaminant before the corresponding UCMR data are fully collected and analyzed. In other instances, the lag between data collection for a contaminant and subsequent regulation may result in inaccurate representation of occurrence, particularly for certain agricultural or industrial contaminants which may see significant changes in usage patterns in a short period of time.
Recommendations from the report include possible Congressional action, which would be required to change certain aspects of the contaminant identification process, including changes to the number of contaminants monitored and changes to certain statutory schedules. Several additional recommendations focus on EPA working within existing statute limitations to increase the efficiency of the program.