pa-56-39-1410: Safe drinking water revised lead and copper rule improvements

Summary

The Environmental Quality Board (Board) proposes to amend Chapter 109 (relating to safe drinking water) to read as set forth in Annex A. The proposed amendments ensure that the Commonwealth's safe drinking water regulations in Chapter 109 remain at least as stringent as 40 CFR Part 141 (relating to National Primary Drinking Water Regulations) promulgated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is a condition of the Department of Environmental Protection (Department) retaining primary enforcement responsibility for public water systems in this Commonwealth under the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 300f 300j-27). The proposed amendments to Chapter 109 focus primarily on Subchapter K (relating to lead and copper). The Maximum Contaminant Level Goals and National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for Lead and Copper, also known as the Lead and Copper Rule (1991 Federal LCR), published by the EPA at 56 FR 26460 (June 7, 1991), was the first National Primary Drinking Water Regulation that required actions by public water systems to reduce levels of lead and copper in drinking water. To further reduce lead and copper in drinking water provided by public water systems, the EPA published the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations: Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (2021 Federal LCRR) at 86 FR 4198 (January 15, 2021), and the final National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for Lead and Copper: Improvements, also known as the Lead and...

The agency’s own summary, as published.