The Tarheel Pipeline, Fall 2015

Fall 2015

feature

Update on New Law Requiring

Source Water Protection Planning

By Debbie Maner, NCRWA

ntil recently, Source Water Protection Planning was a voluntary

process in which water suppliers were encouraged to participate, and

incentives were offered by the state to entice systems to do so. HB

894, which was passed in its final form August 11, 2014, requiring

Source Water Protection Planning has become part of North Carolina

law. The legislation will require every system withdrawing surface

water in our state to develop a Source Water Protection Plan to

address any potential or known sources of contamination within the

area supplying water to their surface intake. The law does not apply

to groundwater sources at this time.

The Public Water Supply Section (PWSS) along with a group of

stakeholders has been working diligently to develop the language of

a rule to satisfy the legislation. Two informative stakeholder meetings

have been held and several exercises have been conducted to gather

input to determine what will become the law. An interim progress

report has been submitted to the Environmental Review Commission

by the Commission for Public Health. A website has been set up and

all the progress made thus far has been summarized there. Draft rules

should be forthcoming soon for the stakeholders to review. Go to

the website

and take a look at the

work that has been done. Comments are still being received if you

have anything to add.

I like this paragraph that comes from the Summary of the HB

894 Meeting held in May of 2015. “In conclusion, two summary

slides were presented. The first contained points of where the HB

894 implementation effort is not going. In general, and within the

scope and language of HB 894, the agency (PWSS), will not pursue:

strengthened regulations against PCS (potential contamination source)

owners, shared regulatory oversight of PCS facilities, mandatory

implementation of all proactive strategies, plan development by a

local stakeholder team, and submittal of the plan to DENR as a public

record. The agency will pursue: strengthened awareness of risks and

threats, consideration of alternate sources of water, emphasis on

emergency preparedness, and utilization of existing drinking water

assessment areas and SWAP technical reports.” There was also talk

at this meeting of the possibility of additional legislation to give PCS

facilities more responsibility in protecting drinking water sources.