Operator Certification
Working Group March 25 & 26, 1997
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
National Drinking Water Advisory Council
Washington, D.C.
"THE PARTNERSHIP"
I. BACKGROUND
The SDWA amendments required that EPA initiate a partnership with States,
public water systems, and the public to develop information for States
on recommended operator certification requirements. The partnership was
formed as a working group under the National Drinking Water Advisory Council
(NDWAC). The first meeting of this 21 member partnership was held on March
25-26, 1997 in Washington, D.C.
II. MAJOR ISSUES RAISED AND ADDRESSED AT THE
MEETING
ISSUE 1: Interpretation of Provisions 1420 (Information)
and 1419 (Guidelines) - Is a document recommending certification requirements
the same as a document specifying certification minimum standards? Is
there to be 1 or 2 documents? A correlated issue was raised - Is there
to be 1 or 2 operator certification working groups? A partnership working
group and a EPA/State work group?.
Conclusion: The discussion among the partnership led to preparing
an information document that would be used in preparation of a second
document, the "guidelines". EPA stated there will be two working groups,
but to relieve concerns about the role of the partnership vs. the role
of the EPA/State work group, EPA stated that "everything the EPA/State
work group does is going to come through the partnership. The partnership
will provide advice to NDWAC, who will recommend to EPA."
ISSUE 2: What should the Information document for the States
look like?
Conclusion: The information document will have 6 parts. These
include: 1.) A clearly stated cover letter detailing who the document
is for and it's purpose 2.) Chapter 6 of The National Academy of Sciences
Report 3.) List of all State Operator Certification Officers and State
Drinking Water Program Managers 4.) Association of Boards of Certification
document, "Operator Certification Program Standards" 5.) Preliminary Summary
of State Operator Certification Programs with modifications requested
by the partnership 6.) The partnership's Recommended Key Standards for
a State Certification Program. Parts 2,3,4 are final. Partnership needs
to finalize parts 1, 5, 6 at next meeting.
ISSUE 3: What are the Key Standards for a State operator
certification program?
Conclusion: Through discussion, a list of 12 Key Standards was
made. Of the 12 suggested, 8 were acceptable to a majority of the partnership
members. These include: Authorization; Classification of Systems, Facilities,
and Operators; Enforcement; Resources Needed to Implement a Program; Operator
Certification; Certification Renewal; Recertification; Public Involvement/Stakeholder
Board of Certification. The remaining four suggested, Coverage; Program
Review; Reciprocity; and Training require more discussion. Upon completion
of further discussion, the key standards identified will be fleshed out
again before becoming final. This process will be accomplished at the
next partnership meeting.
III. NEXT STEPS
- Hold the second meeting of the Partnership on June 5-6 in Washington
, DC to complete Issue 2 and finalize Issue 3.
- Get consensus on the information document going to NDWAC for their
consideration. Document must arrive at NDWAC by September 1 for full
Council review at their October meeting. Information document must be
provided to the States by EPA no later than February 2, 1998. (This
is a statutory requirement.)
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