§300j–4. Records and inspections

(a) Persons subject to requirements; size of system and likely contaminants as considerations for monitoring; monitoring for unregulated contaminants; notification of availability of results; waiver of monitoring requirement; authorization of appropriations

(1) Every person who is a supplier of water, who is or may be otherwise subject to a primary drinking water regulation prescribed under section 300g–1 of this title or to an applicable underground injection control program (as defined in section 300h–1(c) of this title), who is or may be subject to the permit requirement of section 300h–3 of this title, or to an order issued under section 300j of this title, or who is a grantee, shall establish and maintain such records, make such reports, conduct such monitoring, and provide such information as the Administrator may reasonably require by regulation to assist him in establishing regulations under this subchapter, in determining whether such person has acted or is acting in compliance with this subchapter in administering any program of financial assistance under this subchapter, in evaluating the health risks of unregulated contaminants, or in advising the public of such risks. In requiring a public water system to monitor under this subsection, the Administrator may take into consideration the system size and the contaminants likely to be found in the system's drinking water.

(2) Not later than 18 months after June 19, 1986, the Administrator shall promulgate regulations requiring every public water system to conduct a monitoring program for unregulated contaminants. The regulations shall require monitoring of drinking water supplied by the system and shall vary the frequency and schedule of monitoring requirements for systems based on the number of persons served by the system, the source of supply, and the contaminants likely to be found. Each system shall be required to monitor at least once every 5 years after the effective date of the Administrator's regulations unless the Administrator requires more frequent monitoring.

(3) Regulations under paragraph (2) shall list unregulated contaminants for which systems may be required to monitor, and shall include criteria by which the primary enforcement authority in each State could show cause for addition or deletion of contaminants from the designated list. The primary State enforcement authority may delete contaminants for an individual system, in accordance with these criteria, after obtaining approval of assessment of the contaminants potentially to be found in the system. The Administrator shall approve or disapprove such an assessment submitted by a State within 60 days. A State may add contaminants, in accordance with these criteria, without making an assessment, but in no event shall such additions increase Federal expenditures authorized by this section.

(4) Public water systems conducting monitoring of unregulated contaminants pursuant to this section shall provide the results of such monitoring to the primary enforcement authority.

(5) Notification of the availability of the results of the monitoring programs required under paragraph (2), and notification of the availability of the results of the monitoring program referred to in paragraph (6), shall be given to the persons served by the system and the Administrator.

(6) The Administrator may waive the monitoring requirement under paragraph (2) for a system which has conducted a monitoring program after January 1, 1983, if the Administrator determines the program to have been consistent with the regulations promulgated under this section.

(7) Any system supplying less than 150 service connections shall be treated as complying with this subsection if such system provides water samples or the opportunity for sampling according to rules established by the Administrator.

(8) There are authorized to be appropriated $30,000,000 in the fiscal year ending September 30, 1987 ¹ to remain available until expended to carry out the provisions of this subsection.

(b) Entry of establishments, facilities, or other property; inspections; conduct of certain tests; audit and examination of records; entry restrictions; prohibition against informing of a proposed entry

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Administrator, or representatives of the Administrator duly designated by him, upon presenting appropriate credentials and a written notice to any supplier of water or other person subject to (A) a national primary drinking water regulation prescribed under section 300g–1 of this title, (B) an applicable underground injection control program, or (C) any requirement to monitor an unregulated contaminant pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, or person in charge of any of the property of such supplier or other person referred to in clause (A), (B), or (C), is authorized to enter any establishment, facility, or other property of such supplier or other person in order to determine whether such supplier or other person has acted or is acting in compliance with this subchapter, including for this purpose, inspection, at reasonable times, of records, files, papers, processes, controls, and facilities, or in order to test any feature of a public water system, including its raw water source. The Administrator or the Comptroller General (or any representative designated by either) shall have access for the purpose of audit and examination to any records, reports, or information of a grantee which are required to be maintained under subsection (a) of this section or which are pertinent to any financial assistance under this subchapter.

(2) No entry may be made under the first sentence of paragraph (1) in an establishment, facility, or other property of a supplier of water or other person subject to a national primary drinking water regulation if the establishment, facility, or other property is located in a State which has primary enforcement responsibility for public water systems unless, before written notice of such entry is made, the Administrator (or his representative) notifies the State agency charged with responsibility for safe drinking water of the reasons for such entry. The Administrator shall, upon a showing by the State agency that such an entry will be detrimental to the administration of the State's program of primary enforcement responsibility, take such showing into consideration in determining whether to make such entry. No State agency which receives notice under this paragraph of an entry proposed to be made under paragraph (1) may use the information contained in the notice to inform the person whose property is proposed to be entered of the proposed entry; and if a State agency so uses such information, notice to the agency under this paragraph is not required until such time as the Administrator determines the agency has provided him satisfactory assurances that it will no longer so use information contained in a notice under this paragraph.

(c) Penalty

Whoever fails or refuses to comply with any requirement of subsection (a) of this section or to allow the Administrator, the Comptroller General, or representatives of either, to enter and conduct any audit or inspection authorized by subsection (b) of this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of not to exceed $25,000.

(d) Confidential information; trade secrets and secret processes; information disclosure; "information required under this section" defined

(1) Subject to paragraph (2), upon a showing satisfactory to the Administrator by any person that any information required under this section from such person, if made public, would divulge trade secrets or secret processes of such person, the Administrator shall consider such information confidential in accordance with the purposes of section 1905 of title 18. If the applicant fails to make a showing satisfactory to the Administrator, the Administrator shall give such applicant thirty days' notice before releasing the information to which the application relates (unless the public health or safety requires an earlier release of such information).

(2) Any information required under this section (A) may be disclosed to other officers, employees, or authorized representatives of the United States concerned with carrying out this subchapter or to committees of the Congress, or when relevant in any proceeding under this subchapter, and (B) shall be disclosed to the extent it deals with the level of contaminants in drinking water. For purposes of this subsection the term "information required under this section" means any papers, books, documents, or information, or any particular part thereof, reported to or otherwise obtained by the Administrator under this section.

(e) "Grantee" and "person" defined

For purposes of this section, (1) the term "grantee" means any person who applies for or receives financial assistance, by grant, contract, or loan guarantee under this subchapter, and (2) the term "person" includes a Federal agency.

(f) Information regarding drinking water coolers

The Administrator may utilize the authorities of this section for purposes of part F of this subchapter. Any person who manufactures, imports, sells, or distributes drinking water coolers in interstate commerce shall be treated as a supplier of water for purposes of applying the provisions of this section in the case of persons subject to part F of this subchapter.

(July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title XIV, §1445, as added Dec. 16, 1974, Pub. L. 93–523, §2(a), 88 Stat. 1686 ; amended Nov. 16, 1977, Pub. L. 95–190, §12(c), (d), 91 Stat. 1398 ; June 19, 1986, Pub. L. 99–339, title I, §106, title III, §301(h), 100 Stat. 650 , 665; Oct. 31, 1988, Pub. L. 100–572, §5, 102 Stat. 2889 .)

Amendments

1988-Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 100–572 added subsec. (f).

1986-Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 99–339, §106(a), (b), designated existing provisions as par. (1) and inserted provisions permitting Administrator to consider size of system and contaminants likely to be found.

Subsec. (a)(2) to (7). Pub. L. 99–339, §106(b), added pars. (2) to (7).

Subsec. (a)(8). Pub. L. 99–339, §301(h), added par. (8).

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 99–339, §106(c), substituted "shall be subject to a civil penalty of not to exceed $25,000" for "may be fined not more than $5,000".

1977-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 95–190, §12(c), inserted provisions relating to evaluating and advising of health risks of unregulated contaminants.

Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 95–190, §12(d), designated existing provisions as cls. (A) and (B) and added cl. (C) and reference to such cls. (A) to (C).

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 300g–3, 7412, 9606 of this title.

¹ So in original. Probably should be followed by a comma.