Section 809.950. General public notification requirements.

 

(1)   General requirements. All water suppliers for public water systems shall comply with the requirements in this subchapter.

(2)   Who shall give public notice. Each water supplier for a public water system including, community water systems, non-transient non-community water systems, and transient non-community water systems, shall give notice for all violations of national primary drinking water regulations (NPDWR) and for other situations, as listed in sub. (3) . The term "NPDWR violations" is used in this subchapter to include violations of the maximum contaminant level, maximum residual disinfection level, treatment technique, monitoring requirements, and testing procedures in this chapter. Appendix A to this subchapter identifies the tier assignment for each specific violation or situation requiring a public notice.

(3)   Violation categories and other situations requiring a public notice.

(a) All of the following NPDWR violations require a public notice:

1. Failure to comply with an applicable maximum contaminant level or maximum residual disinfectant level.

2. Failure to comply with a treatment technique prescribed by this chapter.

3. Failure to perform water quality monitoring, as required by the drinking water regulations.

4. Failure to comply with testing procedures as prescribed in this chapter or by a drinking water regulation.

(b) Conditional waiver to public notice requirements under subch. VI , including all of the following, require a public notice:

1. Operation under a conditional waiver.

2. Failure to comply with the requirements of any schedule that has been set under a conditional waiver.

(c) Special public notices, including all of the following, require a public notice:

1. Occurrence of a waterborne disease outbreak or other waterborne emergency.

2. Exceedance of the nitrate MCL by non-community water systems, if granted permission by the department under s. NR 809.11 (3) .

3. Exceedance of the secondary maximum contaminant level for fluoride.

4. Availability of unregulated contaminant monitoring data.

5. Other violations and situations determined by the department to require a public notice under this subchapter, not listed in Appendix A.

(4)   Type of public notice required for each violation or situation.

(a) Public notice tiers. Public notice requirements are divided into 3 tiers, to take into account the seriousness of the violation or situation and of any potential adverse health effects that may be involved. The public notice requirements for each violation or situation listed in sub. (3) are determined by the tier to which it is assigned. The definition of each tier is provided in par. (b) . Appendix A identifies the tier assignment for each specific violation or situation.

(b) Definition of public notice tiers.

1. Tier 1 public notice is required for NPDWR violations and situations with significant potential to have serious adverse effects on human health as a result of short-term exposure.

2. Tier 2 public notice is required for NPDWR violations and situations with potential to have serious adverse effects on human health.

3. Tier 3 public notice is required for NPDWR violations or situations not included in Tier 1 and Tier 2.

(5)   Who shall be notified.

(a) Each water supplier for a public water system shall provide public notice to persons served by the public water system, in accordance with this subchapter. All water suppliers for public water systems that sell or otherwise provide drinking water to consecutive systems are required to give public notice to the water supplier for the consecutive system. The water supplier for a consecutive system is responsible for providing public notice to the persons it serves.

(b) If a public water system has a violation in a portion of the distribution system that is physically or hydraulically isolated from other parts of the distribution system, the department may allow the water supplier to limit distribution of the public notice to only persons served by that portion of the public water system which is out of compliance. If the department grants permission for limiting distribution of the notice, permission shall be granted in writing.

(c) A copy of the notice shall also be sent to the department, in accordance with the requirements under s. NR 809.80 (5) .

CR 09-073 : cr. Register November 2010 No. 659 , eff. 12-1-10.