Operator Certification Working Group
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
NDWAC Operator Certification Working Group
(The Partnership)
August 13-14, 1998
Washington, DC
I. Background
On August 13-14, 1998, EPA held a meeting of the National Drinking Water
Advisory Council's (NDWAC) Operator Certification Working Group (the Partnership)
in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the meeting was to address public comments
on the draft guidelines for operator certification, which were published
in the Federal Register
on March 27, 1998. Nineteen of twenty-three work group members attended
the meeting, including three new members: Patrick Banegas (NDWAC member),
William Bellamy (NDWAC member), and Jane Houlihan (Environmental Working
Group).
Several opportunities were provided during the meeting for the public
to comment.
II. Meeting Summary
Prior to the meeting, the Partnership members received a compilation
of all 98 sets of comments that were submitted to the public docket in
response to the March publication of the draft guidelines. To facilitate
discussion, EPA developed a list of key issues to address. Additional
issues were solicited from the group at the beginning of the meeting.
Since the majority of public comments requested clarification and more
specific direction to States, the Partnership agreed to add Preamble language
that clarifies that the intent of the guidelines is to provide flexibility
to the States in the interpretation, implementation, and enforcement of
operator certification program details.
In response to numerous public comments requesting clarification of the
phrase "such as but not limited to," the group revisited each applicable
section of the guidelines to determine the true intent of the phrase.
Commenters expressed concern that the legal interpretation of the phrase
would require state programs to include all of the listed items in addition
to others. The Partnership unanimously agreed that the phrase was intended
to provide examples to States for a variety of items in the guidelines
in which several potential options may exist, and modified the language
to clarify the issue. The only exception occurred in baseline standard
number six (Resources Needed To Implement The Program), where the language
was modified to clarify that all of the listed items are required.
Several commenters also requested that EPA define "State validated,"
" illegal bias," and "job analysis." The Partnership engaged in a lengthy
discussion to determine the intent of the terms in the Operator Qualifications
baseline standard. The group unanimously agreed to remove "State" from
"State validated," and agreed to strike the language regarding illegal
bias and job analysis from the baseline standard.
Another issue drawing significant public comment was grandparenting.
In response to these concerns, the Partnership unanimously agreed to clarify
that although systems must apply for grandparenting, individual operators,
not systems, are grandparented. Additionally, the Partnership clarified
its intent that grandparented operators may renew a grandparented certificate,
but must meet initial certification requirements if they choose to work
for a different system.
To address concerns regarding the Certification Renewal and Recertification
baseline standards the Partnership changed the term "lapsed" to "expired."
The Partnership also agreed to eliminate use of the term "grace period"
in these baseline standards and to add language to both standards to clarify
that individuals with an expired certificate are not certified.
The Partnership recommended changing "implemented" to "implementing"
under the Program Submittal Process to ensure consistency with the Safe
Drinking Water Act (SDWA). A similar change is required in the Introduction
under Statutory Requirements. In addition, the group agreed that an Attorney
General's certification should be required only with the initial submittal
or when changes have been made to a state's statutes and regulations.
III. Next Steps
- The Association of Boards of Certification (ABC), the Association
of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA), and EPA will develop
estimates of the costs of training, certification, and per diem.
- EPA will seek clarification on the definition of "unsalaried" as used
in the context of Section 1419 of SDWA.
- EPA will distribute the revised draft guidelines to the Partnership
for review and comment.
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