007.01 Elements
That Must Be Included in the Public Notice for Violations of Drinking Water
Standards Violations or Other Situations Requiring Public Notice
When a public water system violates a drinking water standard
or has a situation requiring public notification, each public notice must
include the following elements:
1. A
description of the violation or situation, including the contaminant(s) of
concern, and (as applicable) the contaminant level(s);
2. When the violation or situation
occurred;
3. Any potential adverse
health effects from the violation or situation, including the standard language
under 179 NAC 4-007.04 item 1 or 2, whichever is applicable;
4. The population at risk, including
subpopulations particularly vulnerable if exposed to the contaminant in their
drinking water;
5. Whether
alternative water supplies should be used;
6. What actions consumers should take,
including when they should seek medical help, if known;
7. What the system is doing to correct the
violation or situation;
8. When the
water system expects to return to compliance or resolve the
situation;
9. The name, business
address, and phone number of the water system owner, operator, or designee of
the public water system as a source of additional information concerning the
notice; and
10. A statement to
encourage the notice recipient to distribute the public notice to other persons
served, using the standard language under 179 NAC 4-007.04 item 3, where
applicable.
007.02
Elements That Must Be Included in the Public Notice for Public Water Systems
Operating under a Variance or Exemption
1. If
a public water system has been granted a variance or an exemption, the public
notice must contain:
a. An explanation of the
reasons for the variance or exemption;
b. The date on which the variance or
exemption was issued;
c. A brief
status report on the steps the system is taking to install treatment, find
alternative sources of water, or otherwise comply with the terms and schedules
of the variance or exemption; and
d. A notice of any opportunity for public
input in the review of the variance or exemption.
2. If a public water system violates the
conditions of a variance or exemption, the public notice must contain the ten
elements listed in 179 NAC 4-007.01.
007.03 How the Public Notice Is To Be
Presented
1. Each public notice required by
179 NAC 4-007:
a. Must be displayed in a
conspicuous way when printed or posted;
b. Must not contain overly technical language
or very small print;
c. Must not be
formatted in a way that defeats the purpose of the notice;
d. Must not contain language that nullifies
the purpose of the notice.
2. Each public notice required by 179 NAC
4-007 must comply with multilingual requirements, as follows:
a. For public water systems that have a
population with 5% or more non-English speaking consumers, the public notice
must contain information in the appropriate language(s) regarding the
importance of the notice or contain a telephone number or address where persons
served may contact the water system to obtain a translated copy of the notice
or to request assistance in the appropriate language.
007.04 Standard Language Public
Water Systems Must Include in Their Public Notice
Public water systems are required to include the following
standard language in their public notice:
1.
Standard Health Effects
Language for MCL or MRDL Violations, Treatment Technique Violations, and
Violations of the Condition of a Variance or Exemption: Public
water systems must include in each public notice the health effects language
specified in Appendix B to 179 NAC 4 corresponding to each MCL, MRDL, and
treatment technique violation listed in Appendix A to 179 NAC 4, and for each
violation of a condition of a variance or exemption.
2.
Standard Language for
Monitoring and Testing Procedure Violations: Public water systems
must include the following language in their notice, including the language
necessary to fill in the blanks, for all monitoring and testing procedure
violations listed in Appendix A to 179 NAC 4:
We are required to monitor your drinking water for specific
contaminants on a regular basis. Results of regular monitoring are an indicator
of whether or not your drinking water meets health standards. During
[compliance period], we "did not monitor or test" or "did not complete all
monitoring or testing" for [contaminant(s)], and therefore cannot be sure of
the quality of your drinking water during that time.
3.
Standard Language To Encourage
the Distribution of the Public Notice to All Persons Served:
Public water systems must include in their notice the following language (where
applicable):
Please share this information with all the other people who
drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice
directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and
businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or
distributing copies by hand or mail.
