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Montana Administrative Register Notice 17-318 No. 15   08/11/2011    
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BEFORE THE BOARD OF ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

OF THE STATE OF MONTANA

 

In the matter of the amendment of ARM 17.38.101, 17.38.106, 17.38.502, 17.38.511, and 17.38.513 pertaining to plans for public water supply or wastewater system, fees, definitions, water supply, and chemical treatment of water

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NOTICE OF AMENDMENT

 

(PUBLIC WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS)

 

TO:  All Concerned Persons

 

1.  On April 14, 2011, the Board of Environmental Review published MAR Notice No. 17-318 regarding a notice of public hearing on the proposed amendment of the above-stated rules at page 521, 2011 Montana Administrative Register, issue number 7.

 

            2.  The board has amended ARM 17.38.106 and 17.38.511 exactly as proposed and has amended ARM 17.38.101, 17.38.502, and 17.38.513 as proposed, but with the following changes, stricken matter interlined, new matter underlined:

 

            17.38.101  PLANS FOR PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY OR WASTEWATER SYSTEM  (1) and (2) remain as proposed.

            (3)  As used in this rule, the following definitions apply in addition to those in 75-6-102, MCA:

            (a) through (e)(ii) remain as proposed.

            (f)  "Rural distribution system" means those portions of a water distribution system that are outside the limits of a city or town and that:

            (i)  have fewer than one four service connections per mile on average;

            (ii) through (18) remain as proposed.

 

            17.38.502  DEFINITIONS  (1) remains as proposed.

            (2)  "Water hauler" is a person water supplier that is a public water supply system, as defined in 75-6-102, MCA, and that is engaged in the business of transporting water, through a non-piped conveyance, from a water source to a cistern or other reservoir to be used for human consumption in a public water supply system.  As defined in 75-6-102, MCA, a public water supply system is a system that has at least 15 service connections or that regularly serves at least 25 or more persons daily for any 60 or more days in a calendar year facility.

 

            17.38.513  CHEMICAL TREATMENT OF WATER  (1) remains as proposed.

            (2)  Water haulers shall monitor each load of water, and shall record chlorine residual results on department-approved forms.  Haulers shall retain the records of chlorine residual results for each load and shall provide the records to the department upon request.  Chlorine residual records must be retained for ten years, as required by 40 CFR, Part 141.33, which is incorporated by reference in ARM 17.38.234.  By the tenth of the month following a delivery, haulers shall report the following to the department on department-approved forms:

            (a) through (3) remain as proposed.

 

            3.  The following comments were received and appear with the board's responses:

 

            COMMENT NO. 1:  The proposed definition of "rural distribution system" in ARM 17.38.101(3)(f)(i) is too limiting.  It should allow the "rural" designation for systems that have fewer than four service connections per mile on average.  Rural water systems are gaining in popularity for good reasons.  The proposed requirement for fewer than one service connection per mile could discourage the creation of rural water extensions to areas that contain existing small farms or ranchettes.  Department costs for review should not be greater for extensions with fewer than four service connections per mile than for extensions with fewer than one connection per mile.

            RESPONSE:  ARM 17.38.101(3)(f)(i) has been amended as shown above in response to the comment.

 

            COMMENT NO. 2:  The proposed amendments to the definition of "water hauler" in ARM 17.38.502 indicate that only water haulers that haul to public water systems are "water haulers" for purposes of these rules.

            RESPONSE:  The proposed amendments to ARM 17.38.502 were intended to conform the definition of "water hauler" to the current statutory definition of "public water supply system" in 75-6-102, MCA.  As the commentor notes, the proposed amendments narrowed the rule definition to include only water haulers whose customers are themselves public systems.  This was an inadvertent result, and is contrary to the statute.  The statute includes any water hauler with a sufficient number of customers to meet the statutory criteria for a public water supply system, regardless of whether the customers themselves are public systems.  The proposed definition has been amended to ensure that it is consistent with the statute.

 

            COMMENT NO. 3:  Does the department intend that the definition of "water hauler" in ARM 17.38.502(2) apply only to haulers that haul to cisterns or other reservoirs?

            RESPONSE:  Water haulers that haul to other facilities would meet the public water supply definition in 75-6-102, MCA, if they haul to 15 or more service connections or regularly serve water to at least 25 persons for any 60 or more days in a calendar year.  The restriction in the existing rule definition to water hauled to cisterns and reservoirs is contrary to the statute and has been eliminated.

 

            COMMENT NO. 4:  The proposed amendments to ARM 17.38.513(2) do not indicate how long a water hauler must maintain its chlorine residual reporting records.

            RESPONSE:  Record retention requirements are described in ARM 17.38.234, which adopts the federal rules in 40 CFR, Part 141.33.  The federal rules require a ten-year retention period for chemical analyses.  ARM 17.38.513(2) has been modified to include a reference to the ten-year retention requirement.

 

Reviewed by:                                     BOARD OF ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

 

 

 

/s/ James M. Madden                           By:  /s/ Joseph W. Russell                                

JAMES M. MADDEN                                   JOSEPH W. RUSSELL, M.P.H.

Rule Reviewer                                               Chairman

 

Certified to the Secretary of State, August 1, 2011.

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