Requirement to Report Changes in Contact Information;

Emergency Preparedness Requirements

Leslie ShurtleffPWS Security Specialist

Drinking Water ProgramDept. of Environmental Conservation

Leslie.Shurtleff@alaska.gov

Sustained Compliance: What It Means to Public Water System Owners and Operators

Anchorage, AKSeptember 23-24, 2010

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Outline

Requirement to report changes in contact information to the Program

Emergency Contact Lists & Communication Procedures

Proposed Emergency Preparedness Regulation

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Report Changes in Contact Information

Reporting Requirement:

18 AAC 80.355 (f)

Within 30 days after a change in facility name, ownership, operator, address, or status, the owner or operator shall notify the department, in writing, of the change.

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Report Changes in Contact Information

Required - report in writing a change in:

1. Owner(s)

2. Operator(s)

3. Address

4. Facility Name

5. Status

Point of Contact

Method of Contact

Facility Information

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Report Changes in Contact Information

Change in Owner(s) Operator(s)

Designated Operator in Charge?

Emergency Contact Administrative Contact Financial Contact Legal Contact

Point of Contact

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Report Changes in Contact Information

Change in Address Phone Numbers Fax Numbers Email Address Cell Phone Numbers

Method of Contact

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Report Changes in Contact Information

Common Slip-ups Assumption Inform a different DEC Program Simply forget

Risk being in violation of the requirement

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Report Changes in Contact Information

The little effort it takes to report changes in contact information could prevent major headaches….

The Drinking Water Program (Program) must be able to reach system personnel quickly: • Compliance & Sampling issues• Emergency notifications• Changes in requirements

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Does Your System Maintain a Current Contact List of its Own?

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Establish Communication PathwaysIncrease Preparedness

Emergency Contact Lists Names, Titles, Landline, Cell Phone, Email, Address,

Pager During an incident, normal communication channels

may not be accessible!

1) Internal – System personnel• Assign roles and responsibilities

Chain of Command, ER Lead

2) External – Non-system personnel

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Establish Communication PathwaysIncrease Preparedness

External Emergency Contact List Critical Customers Local Emergency Responders (Police, Fire, EMT, etc.) Vendors for Replacement Equipment & Chemical Supplies Alternate Water Suppliers Power Utility, Gas/Oil Supplier Drinking Water Program Local Emergency Planning Committee Local & State Public Health Dept. Mutual Aid Partners

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Establish Communication PathwaysIncrease Preparedness

Build rapport with entities on external communication list

Establish procedures for when and how to: Request aid from external entities Notify users, related agencies, and the media

• Discuss the condition of water quality, water availability, and how to obtain water from the alternate source

ERP: 8 Core Universal Elements

System Specific Information

PWS Roles and Responsibilities

Communication Procedures

Personnel SafetyIdentification of Alternate Water SourcesReplacement Equipment/Chemical Supplies

Property Protection

Water Sampling and Monitoring13

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Emergency Preparedness Requirements

Current Requirements

Bioterrorism Act of 2002 One time requirement No updates Not pertain to new systems, or systems that

grow to serve 3,300

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Emergency Preparedness Requirements

New state regulation has been drafted, intended to enhance water system preparedness

Anticipated to be available for public comment in 2011

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Emergency Preparedness Requirements

Objective of proposed regulation

Inspire PWS personnel to develop a plan, which will ensure the continuation of drinking water availability in the event the standard system source and/or treatment method is compromised

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Emergency Preparedness Requirements

Development Of Regulation

1) Identify Preparedness Ideal

Every system shall ….• Perform a Security Vulnerability

Assessment (VA)• Develop an Emergency Response

Plan (ERP)

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Emergency Preparedness Requirements

Security Vulnerability Assessment Characterizes the system Considers likely threats Evaluates system vulnerability to identified

threats Prioritizes risk reduction measures

Emergency Response Plan Incorporates findings of VA 8 core elements

ERP: 8 Core Universal Elements

System Specific Information

PWS Roles and Responsibilities

Communication Procedures

Personnel Safety

Identification of Alternate Water Sources

Replacement Equipment/Chemical Supplies

Property Protection

Water Sampling and Monitoring

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Emergency Preparedness Requirements

Development Of Regulation

2) Would mandating the ideal achieve the objective? Not necessarily….. The process of planning is as important as, if

not more important than, a plan Must establish relationships with response

partners

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Emergency Preparedness Requirements

Development Of Regulation

3) Adopt a tiered approach Systems serving a larger population

(greater than 1,000) will perform a full ERP and VA

Systems serving a smaller population (less than a 1,000) will perform the “Priority Measures Plan”

Priority Measures Plan

System Specific Information

PWS Roles and Responsibilities

Communication Procedures

Personnel Safety

Identification of Alternate Water Sources

Replacement Equipment/Chemical Supplies

Property Protection

Water Sampling and Monitoring

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Emergency Preparedness RequirementsPRIORITY MEASURES

• Identify alternate drinking water source(s) for both a short term (hours to days) and long term outage (weeks to months)

• Designate a method for distributing drinking water from the alternate source

• Generate an Emergency Contact List which shall be updated regularly and placed at key locations throughout the facility

• Establish procedures for notifying users, related agencies, and media contacts of the condition of water quality, water availability, and how to obtain water from the alternate source

• Familiarize and train system personnel with regard to these measures

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Emergency Preparedness Requirements

Who is subject to the proposed regulation?

Community water systems (CWS) Non-transient, non-community water

systems (NTNCWS) Transient non-community water systems

(TNC) serving 1,000 persons or more only

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Emergency Preparedness Requirements

What are the requirements?

CWS & NTNCWS serving ≥ 1,000 persons shall:

1) Conduct a security Vulnerability Assessment

2) Complete an Emergency Response Plan

3) Complete a thorough update of the Emergency Response Plan on a biennial basis

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Emergency Preparedness Requirements

What are the requirements?

CWS & NTNCWS serving ≤ 999 persons & TNC serving ≥ 1,000 persons

1) Complete the Priority Measures plan

2) Complete a thorough update of the Priority Measures plan on a biennial basis

TNC systems may elect to shut down in the event of an emergency, and therefore are not required to designate an alternate water supply or establish a backup power plan

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Resources

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Resources

FREE Water ISAC Pro Trial Subscription -- $500 value

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Summary

Requirement to report changes in contact information to the Program

Emergency Contact Lists & Communication Procedures

Proposed Emergency Preparedness Regulation