August

31 1989

IN THE MATTER OF:

)

SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT

)

R88-26

REGULATIONS

)

ORDER OF THE

BOARD

(by

J.

Anderson):

Section 17.5 of the Environmental Protection Act

(Act)

requires the Board to adopt regulations which are “identical

in

substance” with USEPA public water supply rules adopted pursuant

to the federal Sage Drinking Water Act

(SDWA).

The term

“identical

in substance has recently been defined

in Section 7.2

of the Act.

Section 7.2(b) of the Act requires the Board to

adopt a rule within one year

of adoption of the federal rule,

unless the Board extends the time based on a finding that the

time is insufficient and stating the reasons.

It appears that

the regulations

in this Docket will arguably be late.

The Board

is therefore entering this Order to extend the time.

The USEPA SDWA rules are

in

40 CFR 141 et seq.

These have

been the subject

of numerous recent amendments,

including two

major amendments on June

29, 1989

(54 Fed.

Reg.

27526 and

27562).

It

is not

immediately obvious at what time the USEPA

rules have or will become, as

a matter of federal law,

ripe for

adoption as State

rules.

However,

the Board intends

in

September,

1989,

to propose rules

for public comment, and in

December,

1989,

to adopt

rules corresponding with USEPA rules

through June

30,

1989.

Many of the USEPA rules involved date back

to December

24,

1975, long before the mandates of Sections 7.2 and 17.5 of the

Act.

It

is impossible to literally comply with the time

requirements with respect to initial adoption of an already

ongoing federal program.

Also,

the initial adoption of a program

often involve

a

far greater effort.

For example,

the SDWA rulemaking is currently delayed by the

problem of placing the incorporations by reference into a format

which meets requirements of Section 6.02 of the

Illinois APA.

The Board has identified approximately

45 references which need

to be completed or corrected to meet APA requirements.

The Board

anticipates that the rules should be adopted prior to December

31,

1989.

The Board also notes that the number of federally—driven

programs involving large blocks of rules has suddenly expanded

102—409

---

—2—

from two

(RCRA and UIC)

to at least five

(by addition of

Pretreatment, UST, and SDWA).

The Board has recently received

added funding for expansion of staff

to manage these large

rulemakings;

the Board believes that it will be able to return

to schedule as

its expanded staff gains experience.

The Board directs that these reasons be published in the

Illinois Register pursuant to Section 7.2 of

the Act.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

I,

Dorothy M. Gunn,

Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, hereby certify that the above Order was adopted on

the

‘/-~-~

day of

~

,

1989,

by

a vote of

~

-

2

p),

4~/

Dorothy

M.//unn,

Clerk

Illinois Pollution Control Board

102—41fl