(a) The director, upon identifying a contaminant in a public water system that may present an unacceptable health risk to the public, shall establish as soon as practicable, interim action levels for those contaminants for which maximum contamination levels have not been established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The director may utilize federal drinking water guidelines as interim action levels when appropriate.
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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 340E-22

  • Contaminant: means any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter in water. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 340E-1
  • Director: means the director of health or the director's authorized agent. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 340E-1
  • EPA risk assessment guidelines: means guidelines developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for the assessment of health risks from environmental pollutants and includes, but is not limited to, Guidelines for Estimating Exposures, Guidelines for Mutagenicity Risk Assessment, Guidelines for the Health Assessment of Suspect Developmental Toxicants, and Guidelines for the Health Risk Assessment of Chemical Mixtures. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 340E-21
  • Federal drinking water guidelines: means a proposed maximum contamination level, health advisory, or other guidance developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to assist a state agency in responding to a contaminant in drinking water for which no maximum contamination level (MCL) is established. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 340E-21
  • Interim action level: means a level established by the director of health for a contaminant in a public drinking water supply for which a maximum contamination level is not established by the EPA. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 340E-21
  • Public water system: means a system which provides water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances if the system has at least fifteen service connections or regularly serves at least twenty-five individuals. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 340E-1
(b) The director shall establish an interim action level at a level below which risks have been determined by the director to be acceptable. EPA risk assessment guidelines may be utilized to determine health risks from a chemical contaminant. When establishing an interim action level the director shall also consider water treatment or alternate remedial actions.
(c) The director shall distribute to appropriate government and private institutions for review and comment a draft risk assessment document describing the technical and scientific methods and parameters utilized to determine an interim action level. The director shall consider all comments received relating to the risk assessment and revise an interim action level if necessary. The draft risk assessment and all comments received by the director shall be made available to the public for review.
(d) The director, upon designating an interim action level for a contaminant, shall take such actions necessary to protect the health of the public including, but not limited to:

(1) Issuing guidance as may be necessary to protect the health of persons (including travelers) who are or may be users of a contaminated water supply system.
(2) Notifying the public through the media of the establishment of an interim action level.
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