Current through Register Vol. 55, No. 13, March 29, 2025
(a)
Elements of a public notice. When a public water system is
required to give public notice under this subchapter, each public notice must
include the following elements:
(1) A
description of the violation or situation, including the contaminants of
concern, and (as applicable) the contaminant levels.
(2) When the violation or situation
occurred.
(3) Any potential adverse
health effects from the violation or situation, including the standard language
under subsection (e)(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 telephone number of the water system owner, operator or designee of
the public water system as a source of additional information concerning the
notice.
(10) A statement to
encourage the notice recipient to distribute the public notice to other persons
served, using the standard language under subsection (e)(3), when
applicable.
(b)
Abbreviated notice. If automatic telephone dialing systems, TV
scrollers, bullhorn announcements or radio station news flashes are used to
deliver an abbreviated notice in accordance with
109.408(d)(1)(iii) (relating to Tier 1 public
notice-categories, timing and delivery of notice), the abbreviated notice must
include, at a minimum, the following elements:
(1) A description of the violation or
situation, including the contaminants of concern, and (as applicable) the
contaminant levels.
(2) Whether
alternative water supplies should be used.
(3) What actions consumers should take,
including when they should seek medical help, if known.
(4) A telephone number or web site address,
or both, where consumers can obtain the entire notice.
(c)
Elements of a 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 under Subchapter I (relating to variances and
exemptions issued by the Department), the public notice must contain the
following elements:
(i) An explanation of the
reason for the variance or exemption.
(ii) The date on which the variance or
exemption was issued.
(iii) 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.
(iv)
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 subsection (a).
(d)
Presentation of a
public notice.
(1) Each public notice
required by this section must:
(i) Be
displayed in a conspicuous way when printed or posted.
(ii) Not contain overly technical language or
print that is smaller than a font size of 10 points.
(iii) Not be formatted in a way that defeats
the purpose of the notice.
(iv) Not
contain language that nullifies the purpose of the notice.
(2) Each public notice required by this
section must comply with multilingual requirements, as follows:
(i) The public notice must contain
information in Spanish 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.
(ii) For each non-English-speaking group
other than Spanish-speaking that exceeds 10% of the consumers for systems
serving at least 1,000 people or 100 consumers for systems serving less than
1,000 people, and speaks the same language other than English, the public
notice must contain information in the appropriate languages 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. The Department will make
the final determination of which systems need to include this
information.
(e)
Standard language for a public
notice. Public water systems shall include the following standard
language in their public notice:
(1)
Standard health effects language for primary MCL or MRDL violations,
treatment technique violations and violations of the condition of a variance or
exemption. Public water systems shall include in each public notice
appropriate health effects language. This subchapter incorporates by reference
the health effects language specified in 40 CFR Part 141, Subpart Q, Appendix
B (relating to standard health effects language for public notification),
corresponding to each primary MCL, MRDL and treatment technique violation
listed in 40 CFR Part 141, Subpart Q, Appendix A (relating to NPDWR violations
and other situations requiring public notice), and for each violation of a
condition of a variance or exemption, unless other health effects language is
established by regulations or order of the Department.
(i) The health effects language for fluoride
is not incorporated by reference. Public water systems shall include the
following health effects language in each Tier 2 public notice for violation of
the primary MCL of 2 mg/L for fluoride:
''This is an alert about your drinking water and a
cosmetic dental problem that might affect children under nine years of age. At
low levels, fluoride can help prevent cavities, but children drinking water
containing more than 2 milligrams per liter (mg/L) of fluoride may develop
cosmetic discoloration of their permanent teeth (dental fluorosis). Dental
fluorosis, in its moderate or severe forms, may result in a brown staining and
or pitting of the permanent teeth. This problem occurs only in developing
teeth, before they erupt from the gums. Drinking water containing more than 4
mg/L of fluoride (the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's drinking water
standard) can increase your risk of developing bone disease.''
(ii) Public water systems shall include the
following health effects language in each Tier 2 public notice for violation of
the primary MCL for PFOA:
''Drinking water containing PFOA in excess of the MCL
of 14 ng/L may cause adverse health effects, including developmental effects
(neurobehavioral and skeletal effects).''
(iii) Public water systems shall include the
following health effects language in each Tier 2 public notice for violation of
the primary MCL for PFOS:
''Drinking water containing PFOS in excess of the MCL
of 18 ng/L may cause adverse health effects, including decreased immune
response.''
(2)
Standard language for violations of monitoring requirements.
Public water systems shall include the following language in their notice,
including the language necessary to fill in the blanks, for all violations of
monitoring requirements listed in 40 CFR Part 141, Subpart Q, Appendix A:
"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
[insert compliance period], we "did not monitor or test" or "did not complete
all monitoring or testing" for [insert 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 shall include in their notice the following language, if
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."
The provisions of this § 109.411 amended under section 4 of
the Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water Act (35 P. S. §
721.4) and sections 1917-A and 1920-A of The
Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. §§
510-7 and
510-20).
This section cited in 25 Pa. Code §
109.408 (relating to Tier 1 public
notice-categories, timing and delivery of notice); 25 Pa. Code §
109.410 (relating to Tier 3 public
notice-categories, timing and delivery of notice); 25 Pa. Code §
109.413 (relating to special
notice for nitrate exceedances above MCL by noncommunity water systems, where
granted permission by the Department); 25 Pa. Code §
109.416 (relating to CCR
requirements); 25 Pa. Code §
109.417 (relating to special
notice for significant deficiencies by noncommunity water systems); 25 Pa. Code
§
109.418 (relating to special
notice for failure to conduct source water Cryptosporidium
monitoring or failure to determine bin classification); 25 Pa. Code §
109.1004 (relating to public
notification); and 52 Pa. Code §69.1601 (relating to
general).