Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a) Relief from the
Fluoride MCL
1) When granting any variance or
adjusted standard to a CWS supplier from the maximum contaminant level for
fluoride in Section 611.301(b), the
Board will require the supplier to apply the BAT identified in subsection
(a)(4) as a condition to the relief, unless the supplier demonstrates through
comprehensive engineering assessments that applying BAT is not technically
appropriate and technically feasible for that supplier.
2) If the Board does not require the supplier
to apply BAT, the Board will require specific conditions for relief from the
fluoride MCL:
A) The supplier must continue
investigating certain methods as alternative means of significantly reducing
the fluoride level on a definite schedule:
i)
Modifying lime softening;
ii) Alum
coagulation;
iii)
Electrodialysis;
iv) Anion exchange
resins;
v) Well-field
management;
vi) Using alternative
sources of raw water; and
vii)
Regionalization; and
B)
The supplier must report results of its investigations to the Agency.
3) The Agency must petition the
Board to reconsider or modify a variance or adjusted standard under Subpart I
of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101 if the Agency determines that an alternative method
the supplier identified under subsection (a)(2) is technically feasible and
would result in a significant reduction in fluoride.
4) Two processes are BAT for fluoride:
A) Activated alumina absorption centrally
applied; and
B) Reverse osmosis
centrally applied.
BOARD NOTE: This subsection derives (a) from
40 CFR
142.61.
b) Relief from an IOC, VOC, or SOC
MCL
1) A CWS or NTNCWS must first apply the
appropriate BAT for the contaminant before the Board may grant any variance or
adjusted standard from the maximum contaminant levels for any VOC or SOC in
Section 611.311(a) or
(c) or any IOC in Section 611.301, unless the
supplier demonstrates through comprehensive engineering assessments that
applying BAT would achieve only a minimal and insignificant reduction in the
contaminant level.
BOARD NOTE: USEPA lists BAT for each SOC and VOC at
40 CFR
142.62(a) for the purposes
of variances and exemptions (adjusted standards). That list is identical to the
list at 40 CFR
141.61(b), which corresponds
with Section 611.311(b).
2) The Board may require any of
certain conditions in any relief from an MCL in Section
611.301 or 611.311:
A) The supplier must continue investigating
alternative means for complying on a definite schedule; and
B) The supplier must report results of its
investigation to the Agency.
3) The Agency must petition the Board to
reconsider or modify a variance or adjusted standard, under Subpart I of 35
Ill. Adm. Code 101 if the Agency determines that an alternative method the
supplier identified under subsection (b)(2) is technically feasible.
BOARD NOTE: This subsection (b) derives from
40 CFR
142.62(a) through
(e).
c) Conditions Requiring Use of Bottled Water,
a Point-of-Use Treatment Device, or a Point-of-Entry Treatment Device. When
granting any variance or adjusted standard from the MCLs for organic and
inorganic chemicals or an adjusted standard from the treatment technique for
lead and copper, the Board may impose certain conditions requiring the use of
bottled water, a point-of-entry treatment device, or a point-of-use treatment
device to avoid an unreasonable risk to human health, limited as subsections
(d) and (e) provide.
1) Relief from an MCL.
When granting a variance or adjusted standard from an MCL in Section
611.301 or 611.311, the Board
may impose a condition requiring a supplier to use bottled water, a
point-of-entry treatment device, a point-of-use treatment device, or other
means to avoid an unreasonable risk to human health.
2) Relief from Corrosion Control Treatment.
When granting an adjusted standard from the corrosion control treatment
requirements for lead and copper under Sections
611.351 and
611.352, the Board may impose a
condition requiring a supplier to use bottled water, a point-of-use treatment
device, or other means but not a point-of-entry treatment device to avoid an
unreasonable risk to human health.
3) Relief from Source Water Treatment or
Replacing Service Lines. When granting an exemption from the source water
treatment and lead service line replacement requirements under Section
611.353 or
611.354, the Board may impose a
condition requiring a supplier to use a point-of-entry treatment device to
avoid an unreasonable risk to human health.
BOARD NOTE: This subsection (c) derives from
40 CFR
142.62(f).
d) Using Bottled Water. A supplier
proposing to use or using bottled water as a condition for receiving a variance
or an adjusted standard from requirements in Section
611.301 or
611.311 or an adjusted standard
from requirements in Sections
611.351 through
611.354 must comply with either
subsections (d)(1), (d)(2), (d)(3), and (d)(6) or (d)(4), (d)(5), and (d)(6).
1) The supplier must develop a monitoring
program for Board approval providing reasonable assurances that the bottled
water meets all MCLs in Sections
611.301 and 611.311, and the
supplier must describe this program in its petition. The description must
demonstrate how the supplier will comply with this subsection (d).
2) The supplier must monitor representative
samples of the bottled water for all contaminants under Sections
611.301 and
611.311 during the first
three-month period that it supplies the bottled water to the public, then
annually after that.
3) The
supplier must annually provide the results of its monitoring to the
Agency.
4) The supplier must
receive a certification from the bottled water company:
A) That the supplier provides bottled water
from an approved source of bottled water, as Section
611.101 defines;
B) That the approved source of bottled water
monitors as 21 CFR
129.80(g)(1) through (g)(3)
require; and
C) That the bottled
water does not exceed any MCLs or quality limits in
21 CFR
110,
129, and
165.110.
5) The supplier must provide the
certification subsection (d)(4) requires to the Agency during the first quarter
after it begins supplying bottled water then annually after that.
6) The supplier must provide sufficient
quantities of bottled water to every affected person the supplier serves via
door-to-door bottled water delivery.
BOARD NOTE: This subsection (d) derives from
40 CFR
142.62(g).
e) Using a Point-of-Entry
Treatment Device. Before the Board grants any PWS a variance or adjusted
standard from an NPDWR, including a condition requiring use of a point-of-entry
treatment device, the supplier must demonstrate certain facts to the Board:
1) That the supplier will operate and
maintain the device;
2) That the
device protects human health equivalent to central treatment;
3) That the supplier will maintain the
microbiological safety of the water at all times;
4) That the supplier has standards for
performance, conducted a rigorous engineering design review, and field tested
the device;
5) That operating and
maintaining the device will account for any potential for increased
concentrations of heterotrophic bacteria resulting from using activated carbon
by backwashing, post-contactor disinfection, and heterotrophic plate count
monitoring;
6) That buildings
connected to the supplier's distribution system have sufficient devices
properly installed, maintained, and monitored to ensure protecting all
consumers; and
7) That using the
device will not cause increased corrosion of lead- and copper-bearing materials
between the device and tap that could increase contaminant levels at the tap.
BOARD NOTE: This subsection (e) derives from
40 CFR
142.62(h).
f) Relief from the Maximum
Contaminant Levels for Radionuclides
1)
Relief from the Maximum Contaminant Levels for Combined Radium-226 and
Radium-228, Uranium, Gross Alpha Particle Activity (Excluding Radon and
Uranium), and Beta Particle and Photon Radioactivity
A) For relief equivalent to a federal section
1415 variance or section 1416 exemption, Section
611.330(g)
lists what USEPA identifies as BAT, treatment techniques, or other means for
complying with the MCLs for the radionuclides in Section
611.330(b), (c),
(d), and (e).
B) For relief equivalent to a federal section
1415 variance or section 1416 exemption for a small system, defined here as one
serving 10,000 persons or fewer, Section
611.330(h)
lists what USEPA identifies as BAT, treatment techniques, or other means
available for complying with the MCLs for the radionuclides listed in Section
611.330(b), (c),
(d), and (e), in addition to the technologies
in Section 611.330(g) for
issuing relief equivalent to a federal section 1415 small system variance or a
section 1416 exemption.
2) As a condition for relief equivalent to a
federal 1415 variance or section 1416 exemption, the Board will require a CWS
supplier to install and use any treatment technology in Section
611.330(g) or
611.330(h) for
a small system serving 10,000 persons or fewer, except as subsection (f)(3)
provides otherwise. If the supplier cannot meet the MCL after installing the
treatment technology, the supplier is eligible for relief.
3) If a CWS supplier demonstrates by
comprehensive engineering assessments, which may include pilot plant studies,
that the treatment technologies identified in this Section would only achieve a
de minimis reduction in the contaminant level, the Board may issue a schedule
of compliance requiring the system to examine other treatment technologies as a
condition of obtaining relief equivalent to a federal section 1415 variance or
section 1416 exemption.
4) If the
Agency determines that a treatment technology identified under subsection
(f)(3) is technically feasible, the Agency may request that the Board require
the supplier to install and use that treatment technology on a compliance
schedule under Section 36 of the Act. The Agency must base its determination on
the supplier's studies and other relevant information.
5) To avoid unreasonable risk to human
health, the Board may require a CWS supplier to use bottled water, point-of-use
devices, point-of-entry devices, or other means as a condition of relief
equivalent to a federal section 1415 variance or a section 1416 exemption from
requirements in Section 611.330.
6)
A CWS supplier using bottled water as a condition to relief equivalent to a
federal section 1415 variance or a section 1416 exemption from the requirements
of Section 611.330 must comply with
subsection (d)(6) and either subsections (d)(1) through (d)(3) or (d)(4) and
(d)(5).
7) A CWS supplier using
point-of-use or point-of-entry devices as a condition to relief equivalent to a
federal section 1415 variance or a section 1416 exemption from the
radionuclides NPDWRs must meet the conditions in subsections (e)(1) through
(e)(6).
BOARD NOTE: This subsection (f) derives from
40 CFR
142.65.