Information for States on Recommended Operator Certification Requirements

This is an information package for States as required by Section 1420 of the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). It was developed in consultation with the Operator Certification Working Group of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC). This group was comprised of representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), State drinking water programs, State operator certification programs, environmental organizations, and drinking water utilities.

The materials in this package are offered for information only and are intended to assist the States as they begin to review their operator certification programs. This information will be used as background material to develop operator certification guidelines, as required by Section 1419 of the 1996 SDWA Amendments. These guidelines, which will be published by February 1999, will specify the minimum requirements for a State operator certification program.

The information package comprises four chapters in a loose-leaf format to facilitate additions, deletions, and modifications. Chapter 1 contains a summary of the existing State operator certification programs. Chapter 2 contains excerpts from the National Research Council's book entitled Safe Water From Every Tap including the Executive Summary and Chapter 6 - Training Operators for Small Systems. This information provides an overview of the small systems situation and emphasizes how essential operator training is to improving small water systems. Chapter 3 contains the Operator Certification Program Standards developed by the Association of Boards of Certification. Finally, Chapter 4 contains a listing of State Drinking Water Administrators and Certification Program Officers. Cited materials were used by the working group for reference purposes only. They are included with the working group report for information only, and should not be construed as being endorsed by the working group, nor should they be considered guidance or regulation.

We look forward to working with the States to review and strengthen, where appropriate, existing operator certification programs to ensure that our water systems have qualified operators and provide drinking water that meets all public health protection standards.

Sincerely,

Robert Perciasepe
Assistant Administrator

For a complete copy of this information package, call the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791 and request a copy of "Information for States on Recommended Operation Certification Requirements".

• Click here to download Chapter 1 "Summary of Existing Operator Certification Programs" (100 pages) in ADOBE PDF format.
• Click here to download Chapter 3 "Operator Certification Program Standards, Association of Boards of Certification" (28 pages) in ADOBE PDF format.
• Click here to download Chapter 4 "List of State Drinking Water Administrators and Operator Certification Program Officers" (15 pages) in ADOBE PDF format.

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