18 AAC 80.430. Sanitary surveys

(a) The owner of a community water system, non-transient non-community water system, or transient non-community water system shall ensure that sanitary surveys addressing the eight components of a sanitary survey set out in EPA's Guidance Manual for Conducting Sanitary Surveys of Public Water Systems; Surface Water and Ground Water Under the Direct Influence (GWUDI), Chapter 3, adopted by reference in 18 AAC 80.010(b) , are completed according to the schedule set out in this section.

(b) For a new community water system, new non-transient non-community water system, or new transient non-community water system, the owner must submit to the department, on a current form provided by the department, a completed sanitary survey as part of the request for final approval to operate described in 18 AAC 80.210(j) (5). After the initial sanitary survey, the owner shall ensure that subsequent sanitary surveys are completed according to the schedule set out in (c), (d), and (e) of this section.

(c) The owner of a community water system or non-community water system that uses only a groundwater source shall ensure that a sanitary survey is conducted at least every five years. However, the owner of a non-community water system using only protected and disinfected groundwater, as determined by the department, shall ensure that a sanitary survey is conducted at least every 10 years.

(d) Except as provided in (e) of this section, the owner of a public water system that uses a surface water source or a GWUDISW source shall ensure that a sanitary survey is conducted at least every

(1) three years for a community water system; and

(2) five years for a non-transient non-community water system and a transient non-community water system.

(e) A community water system as described in (d)(1) of this section that has been determined by the department to have outstanding performance may have a sanitary survey conducted every five years. When determining outstanding performance, the department will consider the following factors:

(1) whether the MCLs set out in 18 AAC 80.300 have been violated since the last sanitary survey;

(2) whether the applicable monitoring and reporting requirements of this chapter have been violated since the last sanitary survey;

(3) whether any violations of this chapter occurred during the past six years;

(4) whether any confirmed waterborne disease outbreaks attributable to the community water system occurred during the past six years;

(5) whether any critical or significant deficiencies were identified in the last two sanitary surveys;

(6) whether the community water system has system capacity sufficient to meet the requirements of 18 AAC 80.207;

(7) whether the community water system has a stable water source that has not experienced an interruption in supply;

(8) whether a source water assessment has been completed for all drinking water sources for the community water system;

(9) whether the community water system has received final approval to operate in accordance with 18 AAC 80.210.

(f) The department, will consider a sanitary survey conducted after December 1, 1995 an initial survey if the sanitary survey addresses the eight components of a sanitary survey set out in Chapter 3 of EPA's Guidance Manual for Conducting Sanitary Surveys of Public Water Systems; Surface Water and Ground Water Under the Direct Influence (GWUDI), adopted by reference in 18 AAC 80.010(b) .

(g) Except as provided in (h) and (i) of this section, within 30 days after completing the inspection, a sanitary survey inspector shall provide the department and the owner of the public water system a sanitary survey report

(1) on a current form provided by the department; and

(2) accurately describing the results of the sanitary survey.

(h) If a critical deficiency is found during a sanitary survey inspection,

(1) within 24 hours, the sanitary survey inspector shall notify the

(A) department by facsimile transmission or by telephone that a critical deficiency has been found; and

(B) owner that a critical deficiency has been found;

(2) within 24 hours after notifying the department or the owner, whichever notification is earlier, the sanitary survey inspector shall provide a written summary of the critical deficiency to the department and the owner;

(3) within 24 hours after receiving notice under (1) of this subsection, the owner shall contact the department to discuss and plan each required corrective action to be taken by the owner and when each action will be completed;

(4) the department may require the owner to

(A) correct a critical deficiency immediately or within 24 hours after the owner contacts the department; or

(B) cease providing drinking water in order to protect the public health;

(5) the owner shall correct each critical deficiency within the time period required under (3) or (4) of this subsection;

(6) if the owner is unable to correct a critical deficiency within the time period required by the department, the owner shall immediately notify the department to seek approval for a new plan or timeline; and

(7) within 24 hours after correcting a critical deficiency, the owner shall respond in writing to the department, detailing how the plan to correct the critical deficiency was carried out.

(i) If a critical deficiency is found during a sanitary survey inspection,

(1) within five working days, the sanitary survey inspector shall

(A) notify the department and the owner by facsimile transmission or by telephone; and

(B) provide the department and the owner with a written notification and summary of each significant deficiency;

(2) within 24 hours or the next working day after receiving notification in (1) of this subsection, the owner shall contact the department to discuss and plan each required corrective action to be taken by the owner and when each action will be completed;

(3) the owner shall correct each significant deficiency in the manner required by the department within five calendar days after contacting the department under (2) of this subsection;

(4) if the owner is unable to correct a significant deficiency within five calendar days, the owner shall immediately notify the department to seek approval for a new timeline; and

(5) within 48 hours after correcting a significant deficiency, the owner shall respond in writing to each department, detailing how the plan to correct the significant deficiency was carried out.

(j) If a deficiency other than one described in (h) and (i) of this section is noted in a report provided under (g) of this section, the owner shall respond in writing to the department no later than 30 days after receipt of the report and describe how and on what schedule the owner will address the deficiency.

(k) After receiving information for a corrective action plan from the owner, the department will

(1) approve the plan submitted under (h), (i), or (j) of this section to correct deficiencies; or

(2) deny the plan, with comments on how to improve the plan to become approved, including

(A) what, if any, additional measures the owner must take to improve drinking water quality; and

(B) whether the existing monitoring frequency is adequate to ensure that the public health is adequately protected.

( l ) The department will reject a sanitary survey report that is incomplete or is not on a current form provided by the department. The department will notify the sanitary survey inspector and the affected water system of the rejected sanitary survey report, and will allow the sanitary survey inspector up to 30 days after the date of notification to provide a complete sanitary survey report to both the department and the owner on a form provided by the department. If completing a rejected or incomplete sanitary survey report requires it, the sanitary survey inspector must complete another site visit to the affected public water system.

(m) If employee of the department performs a sanitary survey required under this section, the owner or operator shall pay the fee required in 18 AAC 80.1910(b)(2).

(n) Failure to comply with the sanitary survey requirements of this section is a monitoring violation and requires that the owner provide public notification under 18 AAC 80.1020.

(o) A person aggrieved by a decision under this section may request a hearing under 18 AAC 80.1920

History: Eff. 10/1/99, Register 151; am 9/28/2001, Register 159; am 1/11/2006, Register 177

Authority: AS 46.03.020

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