There is no safe level of lead exposure. If your water system has a lead action level exceedance (ALE), your water system must take actions to address it. This includes issuing a Tier 1 Public Notice (as now required under the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions) and providing Public Education.
Contents
Who is required to issue a Tier 1 Public Notice (PN) for a lead ALE?
When do these requirements start?How does my water system determine whether there is a lead ALE?When does my water system need to issue Tier 1 Public Notice (PN)?When does my water system need to certify to MDE that the Tier 1 PN met all requirements of the LCRR?What must be included in the Tier 1 Public Notice?How should the Tier 1 Public Notice to be presented?Is there a template available for Tier 1 Public Notice following a lead ALE?How must my water system provide Tier 1 Public Notice?
What are the additional notification requirements when the lead action level is exceeded?
For more information regarding the Lead and Copper water sampling and related requirements
Who is required to issue a Tier 1 Public Notice (PN) for a lead Action Level Exceedance (ALE)?
This requirement applies to both community water systems* (CWS) and non-transient non-community water systems* (NTNCWS) that have a
lead ALE.
Note: This requirement does
not apply to a copper ALE.
*CWS is a public water system that supplies water to year-round residents.
**NTNCWS is a public water system that regularly supplies water to at least 25 of the same people at least six months per year. Some examples are schools, factories, office buildings, and hospitals which have their own water systems.
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When do these requirements start?
CWS and NTNCWS that learn of a lead ALE* on or after
October 16, 2024, will need to issue a Tier 1 Public Notice.
*A water system learns whether or not there is a lead ALE after it receives the laboratory reports of lead samples collected during a monitoring period and performs the 90th percentile calculation. See section “How does my water system determine whether there is a lead ALE?” below.
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How does my water system determine whether there is a lead ALE?
Your water system has a lead ALE if the 90th percentile calculation of lead, based on the total number of water samples collected during a monitoring period, is greater than 15 parts per billion (ppb) or 0.015 milligrams per liter (mg/L). The monitoring periods include: January - June, June - September, or July - December.
MDE has developed a calculation worksheet that water systems may use to determine whether they have a lead ALE.
After downloading and opening the calculation sheet for the first time, you may encounter
“PROTECTED VIEW” warning message. If so, please, click on the “Enable Editing” button to allow the spreadsheet to be edited/updated. For more information, please refer to Enable Editing, Unblock and Enable Macros Instructions.
When does my water system need to issue Tier 1 Public Notice (PN)?
Within 24 hours after your water system learns of the lead ALE, your water system must:
- Notify the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) of the lead ALE
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Issue the Tier 1 PN to customers within 24 hours after your water system learns of the lead ALE (even if your water system is unable to contact MDE)
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Send a copy of Tier 1 PN to MDE and EPA via email at:
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Submit a certification to MDE that the Tier 1 PN met all requirements of the LCRR.
What must be included in the Tier 1 Public Notice?
Note: All of the required elements for the Tier 1 Public Notice listed in the table below are included in MDE’s Tier 1 Public Notice template (See section “Is there a template available for Tier 1 Public Notice following a lead ALE?” below)
Required Elements for Tier 1 Public Notice
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- What happened – Your water system exceeded the lead Action Level*
*Note that the lead Action Level is currently 15 parts per billion (ppb) and, effective November 1, 2027, will be 10 ppb. |
- When the lead ALE occurred
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- The following mandatory health effects language:
Exposure to lead in drinking water can cause serious health effects in all age groups. Infants and children can have decreases in IQ and attention span. Lead exposure can lead to new learning and behavior problems or exacerbate existing learning and behavior problems. The children of women who are exposed to lead before or during pregnancy can have increased risk of these adverse health effects. Adults can have increased risks of heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney, or nervous system problems.
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- Whether alternative water supplies should be used
The Lead and Copper Rule does
not require water systems to provide alternative supplies of water if the lead action level is exceeded; however, if a water system chooses to provide an alternative source of water, then the water system may provide information about the alternative water source in the public notice.
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- What actions consumers should take
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- What your water system is doing to address the lead ALE
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- When your water system expects to resolve the lead ALE
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- Contact information for your water system owner, operator, or designee
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- Encourage Distribution of the Notice
The following mandatory text below must be included on the Public Notice, where applicable:
Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.
This will be applicable for most CWS.
For (1) NTNCWS or (2) "Special" CWS (e.g., retirement facilities, nursing homes, correctional facilities, hospitals, etc.), the above mandatory text will not be applicable in most cases; however, even if not applicable, a statement to encourage the sharing of the Public Notice may still be included on the Public Notice as appropriate (either by modifying the above mandatory text or creating your own statement).
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- Must be displayed in a conspicuous way when printed or posted;
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Must not contain overly technical language or very small print;
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Must not be formatted in a way that defeats the purpose of the public notice; and
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Must not contain language which nullifies the purpose of the public notice.
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The MDE's templates:
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Are intended for hand delivery, email delivery, for posting in a public place, and/or posting on a digital community board/social media platform (e.g. neighborhood app).
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Provide mandatory text from the EPA regulations (indicated by italics) and places to fill in with specific water system information in [bold, underlined, and highlighted text in brackets].
Note: If a water system chooses to modify MDE’s template or create their own public notice, the notice must still contain all required public notice elements and all mandatory language regarding the health effects of lead and the sharing of the notice (see section “What must be included in the Tier 1 Public Notice?” above). There is no requirement for MDE to review the Tier 1 PN for a Lead Action Level Exceedance before it is distributed to water customers even if the water system modifies MDE’s template or creates their own public notice. MDE has also developed some suggested additional text, if applicable to the water system, that may be included in a water system’s Tier 1 public notice using MDE’s template (or if water system created their own public notice). See MDE's suggested additional text in the table below.
MDE's templates and suggested additional text
Water systems must use one or more of the following forms of delivery to reach all people served by the water system:
- Appropriate broadcast media (e.g., radio and television)
- Posting the notice in prominent locations throughout your water system’s service area
- Posting on a digital community board/social media platform (e.g. neighborhood app)
- Hand delivery* of the notice to all persons served (this includes door hangers)
- Automated text messages and/or robocalls
*Due to the 24-hour delivery requirement, delivery via regular mail would not be sufficient in meeting the deadline.
For Non-English Speaking Consumers
For water systems serving a large population of non-English speaking consumers, this notice must have information in the appropriate language(s) or information on how to receive a translated copy of the notice or contact information on how to request assistance in the appropriate language.
- Lead Public Education Program - required to be completed within 60 days after the end of the monitoring period in which the lead action level is exceeded, and
- Lead Sample Customer Notices (with individual lead sample results) - must be distributed/posted within 30 days of receipt of the laboratory report(s) regardless of the lead sample results:
- For community water systems, the notices must be delivered to each resident who had a lead sample collected at their home.
- For non-transient non-community water systems, a notice with a summary of all lead sample results may be posted in a conspicuous place within each building.
