[§340E-22]  Establishment of interim actionlevels.  (a)  The director, upon identifying a contaminant in a publicwater system that may present an unacceptable health risk to the public, shallestablish as soon as practicable, interim action levels for those contaminantsfor which maximum contamination levels have not been established by the UnitedStates Environmental Protection Agency.  The director may utilize federaldrinking water guidelines as interim action levels when appropriate.

(b)  The director shall establish an interimaction level at a level below which risks have been determined by the directorto be acceptable.  EPA risk assessment guidelines may be utilized to determinehealth risks from a chemical contaminant.  When establishing an interim actionlevel the director shall also consider water treatment or alternate remedialactions.

(c)  The director shall distribute toappropriate government and private institutions for review and comment a draftrisk assessment document describing the technical and scientific methods andparameters utilized to determine an interim action level.  The director shallconsider all comments received relating to the risk assessment and revise aninterim action level if necessary.  The draft risk assessment and all commentsreceived by the director shall be made available to the public for review.

(d)  The director, upon designating an interimaction level for a contaminant, shall take such actions necessary to protectthe health of the public including, but not limited to:

(1)  Issuing guidance as may be necessary to protectthe health of persons (including travelers) who are or may be users of acontaminated water supply system.

(2)  Notifying the public through the media of theestablishment of an interim action level. [L 1987, c 297, pt of §2(2)]