[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 209 (Wednesday, October 29, 1997)] [Notices] [Pages 56164-56165] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 97-28554] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [FRL-5914-8] EPA's National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence Data Base AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Announcement of a Joint Requirements Planning Meeting on the National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence Data Base. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has scheduled a five-day Joint Requirement Planning (JRP) meeting on EPA's development of a National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence Data Base (NCOD). The JRP is a structured meeting designed to gather requirements on a new information system from a varied body of stakeholders with an interest in the system. At the upcoming meeting, EPA is seeking input from key national, State, individual stakeholders and other interested parties concerning the objectives, questions and data elements to be addressed in the design and development of the NCOD. DATES: The Joint Requirements Planning Meeting on the National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence Data Base will be held on November 17-21, 1997 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST. ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in the WIC-2 South conference room at USEPA Waterside Mall, 401 M Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20460. For additional information, please contact Harriet Colbert, at phone: (202) 260-2302, fax: (202) 260-3762, or by e-mail at [email protected]. Members of the public wishing to attend the meeting may register by phone by contacting Harriet Colbert by October 31, 1997. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information and logistics for the meeting, please contact Harriet Colbert, at phone: (202) 260-2302, fax: (202) 260-3762, or by e-mail at [email protected]. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A. Background on the National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence Data Base Section 126(g)(1) of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 (SDWA) requires the Administrator to assemble and maintain a national drinking water contaminant occurrence database by using information on the occurrence of both regulated and unregulated contaminants in public water systems and reliable information from other public and private sources. This National Contaminant Occurrence Database (NCOD) will be a collection of data of documented quality on unregulated and regulated chemical or microbial contaminants likely to occur in drinking water systems. The purpose of the data system is to support the identification and selection of contaminants for future regulation or other appropriate actions and to support the review of existing regulations for possible modification. The database must be developed no later than three years after the date of enactment of the SDWA Amendments. Therefore, SDWA requires the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (OGWDW) to develop the NCOD by August 6, 1999. B. Request for stakeholder Involvement. At the May 1997 NCOD Stakeholders meeting, there was general concurrence that the primary user of the database will be EPA. Stakeholders such as industry, environmental groups, States and the general public are secondary users. As a result of the meeting, the NCOD Team established a system development strategy. The strategy will serve as a ``road map'' over the next two years for developing the first release of the data base to meet the statutory requirements. One of the major steps in implementing the development strategy is to determine what the needs are and specifically what types of data are required to meet those needs. User requirements will serve as the foundation upon which the database will be developed. Discussion materials will be available at the meeting. The specific issue for discussion at the meeting will be what data elements are needed to allow sound scientific analysis to support contaminant identification, contaminant selection, regulatory development, and regulatory re-examination. The public is invited to provide comments on the issue listed above or other issues related to the National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence Data Base during the November 17-21 meeting. [[Page 56165]] Dated: October 23, 1997. Elizabeth Fellows, Acting Director, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water. [FR Doc. 97-28554 Filed 10-28-97; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560-50-P