The final Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR) was signed by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on December 20 and will be published in the Federal Register in January. The final RTCR follows the recommendations outlined in the 2008 Agreement in Principle developed by the federal advisory committee tasked with evaluating potential changes to the 1989 Total Coliform Rule (TCR).
Most pertinent to large drinking water systems, the RTCR establishes a maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG) and maximum contaminant level (MCL) for E. coli in lieu of an MCLG and MCL for total coliforms and establishes assessment and corrective action requirements for E. coli MCL violations. Public notification requirements will also be based onE. coli violations rather than the presence of total coliforms. Other significant changes under the RTCR are mostly geared towards smaller water systems, which will see changes to monitoring requirements linked to specific performance criteria. The beginning date for compliance with all new RTCR requirements is April 1, 2016, and EPA is expected to develop guidance to assist in the implementation of the RTCR prior to that date. The full pre-publication version of EPA’s Federal Register notice, as well as a fact sheet outlining the changes under RTCR, are available at EPA’s TCR website.
Absent from the final RTCR are storage tank inspection and cleaning requirements that had been a possible addition to the rule. Instead, EPA continues to develop Finished Water Storage Facility Inspection Requirements for the Revised Total Coliform Rule as a separate rulemaking, currently scheduled for proposal in June 2013. To date, EPA has released very little information on potential finished water facility inspection requirements, but some form of public outreach on the effort is expected early in 2013