On the May 30 TCEQ agenda is the consideration for publication of, and hearing on, proposed amendments to 30 TAC Chapter 290, Public Drinking Water, Sections 290.38, 290.39, 290.46, 290.103, 290.109 – 290.112, 290.116, 290.119, 290.122, and 290.275; and 30 TAC Chapter 291, Utility Regulations, Sections 291.161 and 291.162.
The proposed rulemaking would bring Chapters 290 and 291 into conformity with House Bill (HB) 805, 82nd Legislature, 2011, Regular Session; the federal Ground Water Rule (GWR) including a change to the definition of groundwater under the direct influence of surface water to make it consistent with 40 Code of Federal Regulations Section 141.2; Total Organic Carbon (TOC) Rule; and United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Method 334.0. The federal regulations implement the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The proposed amendments made by HB 805 expand the counties to which the Emergency Preparedness Plan requirement applies and provides a timeline for newly affected water systems to comply. The proposed amendments made for the GWR establish rule language consistent with that used in the federal regulations. The proposed amendments to the TOC Rule are to correct an inaccuracy in the applicability statement that extended the state requirements of Section 290.112 to treatment plants that are not subject to the corresponding federal requirements. The proposed amendments also include EPA Method 334.0 as an approved alternative for measuring chlorine residual in drinking water.
HB 805 Senate Bill (SB) 361, 81st Legislature, 2009, was incorporated into TCEQ rules in 2009. SB 361 required a retail public utility, exempt utility, or provider or conveyor of potable or raw water in a county with a population of 3.3 million or in an adjacent county with a population of 400,000 or more that furnishes water service to more than one customer: to ensure the emergency operation of its water system during an extended power outage, as soon as safe and practicable following the occurrence of a natural disaster; to adopt an EPP that demonstrates the affected utility’s ability to provide emergency operations; and, to submit the plan to the commission for approval. SB 361 required TCEQ to adopt rules to implement Texas Water Code (TWC), §13.1395, and to meet the specific requirements to ensure emergency operation at 35 pounds per square inch (psi) through the adoption of the EPP as well as develop an EPP template that lists and explains the necessary preparations and all the commission rules and standards pertaining to EPPs. Currently, affected utilities with customers in Harris County are required to submit and implement an EPP. Based on HB 805, affected utilities in Harris and Fort Bend Counties will be required to prepare and submit an EPP for TCEQ review and approval by February 1, 2012, and to begin implementing the plan by June 1, 2012. The bill allows a one-time extension to each of these deadlines (to March 1, 2012 for submittal and to September 1, 2012 for implementation).
More details: http://www.tceq.texas.gov/rules/pendprop.html#12020