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Total Coliform Rule Revisions

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The 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act [Section 1412(b) (9)] require the Administrator to review and revise, as appropriate, each national primary drinking water regulation not less often than every 6 years. EPA published as part of its National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) Review its decision to revise the TCR in July 2003. In response to recommendations from the Stage 2 M/DBP Federal Advisory Committee, the Agency also decided to consider whether it would be appropriate to add new requirements to address risks associated with distribution systems.

EPA, in association with distribution system experts, has begun to compile existing information regarding potential health risks that may be associated with distribution systems in nine "white papers. In addition, EPA is involved in the development of a series of ten TCR issue papers. All distribution system white papers and TCR issue papers will be used to inform EPA and stakeholders of areas of potential TCR revisions and distribution system requirements. The Agency will also be holding one or more technical workshops to better understand issues associated with the TCR and distribution systems.

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Meeting Information

EPA plans to hold meetings and webcasts regarding potential changes to the Total Coliform Rule and the possible addition of distribution system requirements.  More information about planned and past meetings is provided below.

Future meetings and webcasts

There are no additional meetings at this time. For meetings of the Total Coliform Rule Distribution System Advisory Committee (TCRDSAC) see the following page.

Past meetings and webcasts

Total Coliform Rule Revision / Distribution System Technical Public Meeting

EPA is holding a Technical Public Meeting in Washington, DC on Wednesday, June 13, 2007 (8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)) and Thursday, June 14, 2007 (8 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT), to discuss available information on the Total Coliform Rule (TCR) and, where applicable, discuss data available to better understand public health risks associated with distribution systems.

Total Coliform Rule / Distribution System Stakeholder Technical Workshop and Request for Nominations

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a technical workshop in Washington, DC, to discuss available information on the Total Coliform Rule (TCR) and available information regarding risks in distribution systems in support of revisions to the TCR. As part of the technical workshop, EPA discussed information and analytic approaches for characterizing risks posed by the distribution system. Subsequently, if results from the workshop indicate that a formal consensus building process is appropriate for the revision effort, the Agency will consider establishing a Committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to provide advice and recommendations on how best to utilize available information for potential revisions to the TCR and to address public health risks from contamination of distribution systems. In addition, such a Committee could provide recommendations to determine if further information is needed to be collected to address health risks associated with distribution systems.

For more information regarding the solicitation of nominations for membership on a potential Federal Advisory Committee, use the link provided below.

Preparatory Webcast – January 17, 2007, 2:00pm – 4:30 pm EST

On January 17, 2007 EPA hosted an important preparatory webcast for the Stakeholder Technical Workshop. The purpose of the webcast was to provide basic background information to technical workshop attendees who do not have a good deal of experience with TCR-DS issues, ensuring that all workshop attendees had a common base of information with which to understand and discuss workshop presentations and materials. Please see the links to the agenda and presentation materials below for more information on the topics that were covered.

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Distribution System White Papers

EPA has developed a series of "white papers" on distribution system issues ranked of potentially significant public health concern (see list below) to serve as background material for EPA, expert and stakeholder discussions. These "white papers" were the outgrowth of two meetings (in June 2000 and March 2002) of distribution system experts, which included representatives from EPA's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water and Office of Research and Development; academia; water utilities; Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies; American Water Works Association; American Water Works Service Company; environmental consulting companies; state regulators; and environmental interest groups. The goal of the meetings was to illuminate the data available on potential health risks in distribution systems. The experts agreed on the preparation of "white papers" to review the available data, information and research regarding potential public health risks associated with distribution system issues. Where relevant, the experts also identify areas in which additional research may be warranted. The papers only present available information and do not represent Agency policy.

Note - Some of the papers were prepared by parties outside of EPA, therefore EPA does not endorse these papers, but is providing them for review (i.e., Papers on Intrusion; Aging Infrastructure and Corrosion; Permeation and Leaching; Nitrification; Covered Storage; Decay in Water Quality over Time; and, New or Repaired Mains.

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TCR Issue Papers

EPA and AWWA developed a series of TCR Issue Papers to present available information on a range of issues related to the TCR.  The paper topics were based on feedback from stakeholders and comments received on the TCR since promulgation.  The objective of the issue papers is to review the available data, information and research regarding issues relevant to the revision of the TCR, and where relevant, identify areas in which additional research may be warranted.  Draft papers were completed in June 2006 and were reviewed by a range of industry experts and stakeholders from :

EPA held a TCR Experts workshop in June 2006 to discuss the draft papers and possible rule revisions.  The review and comment by the experts constitutes peer review of the papers.

EPA will use the papers as information sources for discussions of TCR issues with the drinking water community, experts and stakeholders.

The papers are:

Note - The papers present available information and do not represent Agency policy or necessarily reflect the views of EPA. The papers on Distribution System Monitoring Strategies and Distribution System Inventory were prepared by AWWA.

National Academy of Sciences Committee on Public Water Supply Distribution Systems: Assessing and Reducing Risks

At EPA’s request, the National Academy of Sciences convened a committee to undertake a study of water quality issues associated with public water supply distribution systems. The Academy released two reports in 2005 and 2006. The reports and additional information on the study can be found at the NAS Web site below.

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