[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 145 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43868-43869]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-15055]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[Docket ID No. OW-2004-0004; FRL-7945-3 ]
Notice of Availability: Tribal Drinking Water Operator
Certification Program Final Guidelines
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing
the availability of the Tribal Drinking Water Operator Certification
Program (Program) Final Guidelines. EPA established the Program to
further protect public health by providing operators of drinking water
systems in Indian country additional training and certification
opportunities for community and non-transient non-community drinking
water systems. The Program guidelines establish baseline standards for
non-State organizations certifying operators of systems in Indian
county and outline a consistent method of assessing, tracking, and
addressing the certification and training needs of those operators.
DATES: The Tribal Drinking Water Operator Certification Program Final
Guidelines are effective as of July 29, 2005.
ADDRESSES: EPA had previously established a docket for seeking public
comment on the Draft Final Guidelines under Docket ID No. OW-2004-0004.
All documents in the docket are listed in the EDOCKET index at http://www.epa.gov/edocket.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Safe Drinking Water Hotline at
800-426-4791 for copies of the guidelines and for general information
about the document. The guidelines are also available on the EPA Office
of Ground Water and Drinking Water Web site at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/tribal.html. For technical inquiries, contact Monica
Pe[ntilde]a, Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Ground Water
and Drinking Water, Mail Code 4606M, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-2575; e-mail:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. How Can I Get Copies of The Guidelines and Other Related
Information?
1. Docket. EPA has established an official public docket for this
action under Docket ID No. OW-2004-0004. The official public docket
consists of the documents specifically referenced in this action, any
public comments received, and other information related to this action.
Although a part of the official docket, the public docket does not
include Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. The official public docket
is the collection of materials that is available for public viewing at
the Water Docket in the EPA Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West, Room
B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket
Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the
Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the
Water Docket is (202) 566-2426.
2. Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document
electronically through the EPA Internet under the ``Federal Register''
listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/.
An electronic version of the public docket is available through
EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, EPA Dockets. You may
use EPA Dockets at http://www.epa.gov/edocket/ to view public comments,
access the index listing of the contents of the official public docket,
and to access those documents in the public docket that are available
electronically. Although not all docket materials may be available
electronically, you may still access any of the publicly available
docket materials through the docket facility identified in section I.A.
Once in the system, select ``search,'' then key in the appropriate
docket identification number.
B. Background
The Tribal Drinking Water Operator Certification Program Final
Guidelines represent EPA's effort to establish a program for Tribes
that is flexible, while at the same time provides meaningful public
health protection to the drinking
[[Page 43869]]
water community. The Program will provide Tribes with further training
and certification opportunities in addition to existing training or
certification programs offered by States, various Federal agencies, and
private organizations. EPA established the Program to further protect
public health by providing operators of drinking water systems in
Indian country additional training and certification opportunities for
community and non-transient non-community drinking water systems. (A
community water system provides drinking water to the same people year-
round. A non-transient non-community water system is a water system
that serves at least 25 of the same customers on less than a year-round
basis.) The Program guidelines establish baseline standards for non-
State organizations certifying operators of Tribal systems and outlines
a consistent method of assessing, tracking, and addressing
certification and training needs on Tribal lands. The Agency believes
that establishing a Tribal Operator Certification Program will help
bring greater public health protection to Tribal communities.
In 1998, EPA headquarters (HQ) and Regional Offices formed a
workgroup to discuss possible approaches for developing the Program in
consultation with the Tribes. In addition, EPA coordinated with other
Federal agencies and sought their recommendations. A Notice of
Availability for the draft guidelines was published in the Federal
Register on March 30, 2000 (65 FR 16917). An additional Notification of
Availability was published in the Federal Register on April 19, 2004
(69 FR 20874); public comments to those notices and EPA's responses are
available at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/tribal.html.
Dated: July 14, 2005.
Benjamin H. Grumbles,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Water.
[FR Doc. 05-15055 Filed 7-28-05; 8:45 am]
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