EPA Publishes Approval of Variance for Lead and Copper Rule Treatment Technique for Denver Water

In today’s (12/20) Federal Register, EPA has published an approval of a variance decision for an alternative treatment technique for Denver Water under the 1991 Lead and Copper Rule (LCR). Rather than adding orthophosphate as a corrosion inhibitor as required under the 1991 LCR after its Action Level Exceedance (ALE) in 2012 and creating downstream nutrient problems, Denver Water proposed a comprehensive Lead Reduction Program Plan (LRPP) that focuses on increasing the pH and alkalinity, conducting an accelerated lead service line replacement (LSLR) program to replace all lead service lines (LSLs) in 15 years, and implementing a communications, outreach and education plan. EPA has approved this variance request for three years and is asking for comments on potential criteria for how the Agency will determine to extend this variance for up to an additional twelve years.

EPA has proposed regulatory requirements for lead service line (LSL) inventories and LSLR programs in the proposed Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR). EPA recently extended the LCRR comment period to February 12, 2020.

The comment period for approval of the variance decision for Denver Water closes on January 21, 2020. More information on Denver Water’s LRPP can be found here.