Service Area Strategic Plan
11/23/2009   4:31 am
Department of Health (601)
Biennium: 2008-10
Service Area 1 of 1
Drinking Water Regulation (601 508 01)
Description

This service area implements the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, Virginia’s Public Water Supply Law and Virginia’s Waterworks Regulations to protect public health by regulating Virginia’s public waterworks. Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is designated as the “primacy” agency with primary enforcement responsibility for implementing and enforcing the federal drinking water standards in Virginia.

Products and services include:
• Inspections and investigations of waterworks,
• Evaluations of engineering reports, plans and specifications,
• Training for waterworks owners and operators,
• Technical assistance to waterworks owners and operators,
• Establishment and implementation of a drinking water quality monitoring program,
• Emergency assistance provided to waterworks owners and operators (droughts, floods, etc.),
• Database development and maintenance to include an inventory of all of Virginia’s public waterworks and compliance information on those waterworks,
• Enforcement/compliance actions to ensure compliance with regulations, and
• Serve as a resource to other state and federal agencies.

This service area is administered by the VDH Office of Drinking Water (ODW).
Background Information
Mission Alignment and Authority
  • Describe how this service supports the agency mission
    This service area directly aligns with VDH’s mission of promoting and protecting the health of Virginians by assuring an adequate quality and quantity of safe drinking water to consumers.
  • Describe the Statutory Authority of this Service
    Sections 32.1-167 through 32.1-176 of the Code of Virginia establish VDH's authority to regulate construction and operation of waterworks in Virginia.

    The Federal Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, as amended in 1986 and 1996, was enacted to protect the quality of drinking water in the United States.

    40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 142, Subpart B governs the primary enforcement responsibility for federal drinking water standards.
Customers
Agency Customer Group Customer Customers served annually Potential annual customers
Affiliated Interests (attorneys, general contractors, product manufacturers, backflow workers, etc.) 100 500
Other Governmental Agencies (local, state, and federal) 300 300
Public Served 6,200,000 6,900,000
Waterworks Operators 1,800 2,500
Waterworks Owners 3,000 3,000

Anticipated Changes To Agency Customer Base
Waterworks owners/operators:
• The number of waterworks owners is expected to remain relatively stable (3,000) with a possible downward trend due to an increase in the number and complexity of drinking water regulations and a trend toward regionalization.

Public served:
• The number of Virginia’s citizens served by public waterworks will increase as Virginia’s population increases.
• Waterworks are expanding their service areas to include homes served by individual wells, springs or cisterns with drinking water health concerns.

Affiliated interests:
• The drinking water industry has numerous affiliated interests such as backflow workers, attorneys, product manufacturers and general construction contractors.
• VDH expects to see an increase in the number of affiliated interests as increasing regulations are implemented and waterworks owners maintain, update, or expand their infrastructure facilities to cope with the mandated changes and the normal growth.
• A measurable increase in VDH technical assistance provided to consulting engineers is anticipated due to new and revised drinking water regulations.
• Virginia Rural Water Association, Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project, and other organizations expect increased partnerships for training activities from VDH.

Other governmental agencies:
• VDH involvement with numerous agencies at local, state, and federal levels to either provide technical assistance or coordinate functions to better serve mutual clients will increase.
• Changing focuses, envisioned needs, security concerns and/or regulatory mandates will demand VDH’s continued involvement with others.
Partners
Partner Description
[None entered]
Products and Services
  • Factors Impacting the Products and/or Services:
    The increase in the number and complexity of federal drinking water regulations is expected to increase the amount of technical assistance provided to waterworks owners and operators in an effort to maintain compliance with the regulations.

    New technologies will alter the methods of treating drinking water.

    The public’s expectations of the quality of the drinking water has increased.

    The public’s knowledge of drinking water issues has increased.

    The modernization of aging drinking water infrastructure facilities by waterworks will lead to VDH having to increase time spent on evaluating engineering reports, plans and specifications.

    The availability of information on the internet will increase the public’s expectations concerning their right to know.

    Level general and nongeneral funding has resulted in a depletion of the fund balance in the waterworks operation fees account.

    Increases in the complexity and number of drinking water regulations that must be monitored and enforced will significantly increase the workload. Additional general fund support will be needed to adequately support staffing levels for protecting the public health.

    VDH will need to replace a significant proportion of its engineering workforce in the near future due to retirement, etc. This will eliminate a significant amount of the institutional knowledge that helps VDH understand and plan for increased public health protection. VDH will be faced with increasing difficulty in finding high quality engineers at state salary rates as the state’s pay has not maintained pace with the private sector.
  • Anticipated Changes to the Products and/or Services
    Increased resources are anticipated to be allocated to evaluation of engineering reports, plans and specifications as a result of increased regulation and upgrades for replacing aging facilities or for expanded waterworks.

    On-site inspections of waterworks are expected to increase as the public demands greater oversight to protect public health.

    Training assistance to owners/operators is expected to increase due to increasing complexity of drinking water regulations.

    Technical assistance to owners/operators is expected to increase due to increasing complexity of drinking water regulations.

    The drinking water quality monitoring activities are expected to increase dramatically due to new federal drinking water regulations.

    Database activities will continue to increase as imminent federal drinking water regulations require new data, expanded databases, etc.
  • Listing of Products and/or Services
    • Inspections and Investigation of Waterworks: Scheduled on-site inspections are conducted within the prescribed timeframe to evaluate the capability of waterworks to consistently and reliably deliver an adequate quality and quantity of safe drinking water to consumers and to comply with state and federal drinking water standards. Special on-site investigations are conducted to provide requested technical assistance, evaluate new or upgrading public waterworks, and meet special enforcement needs. Complaint investigations are conducted as necessary to follow-up on consumer complaints.
    • Evaluation of Engineering Reports, Plans and Specifications: Evaluate engineering reports, plans and specifications of new and modified public water supply facilities to ensure that design and construction of those facilities will be capable of complying with the drinking water regulations as well as addressing the priority problems that exist. Issue permit to construct or modify waterworks upon approval of plans and specifications, Issue operation permit after construction is completed, Conduct in depth review of new water treatment technologies.
    • Training Assistance to Waterworks Owners and Operators: Hold or participate in seminars and workshops concerning the implementation of new drinking water rules or regulations, emerging technologies, techniques and professional development for waterworks managers and operators, etc. Conduct operator training for operators of very small systems on need-to-know subjects, such as disinfection, pumps, chemical feeders, and well operations.
    • Technical Assistance to Waterworks Owners and Operators: Assist waterworks in implementing new and revised drinking water regulations. Assist in problem identification to solve operational problems or to prioritize construction needs. Identify events that point to the development of drought conditions and alert waterworks to review their water conservation measures and attend meetings as necessary. Monitor the source water assessment program. Encourage waterworks to assess the areas serving as their sources of drinking water in an effort to identify potential threats and initiate protection efforts. Provide necessary assistance to waterworks conducting vulnerability assessments on an as requested basis. Vulnerability assessments aid waterworks in evaluating their susceptibility to potential threats and identify corrective actions to reduce or negate the risk of serious consequences from vandalism, insider sabotage, or terrorist attack. Implement the capacity development program in an effort to help waterworks improve their technical, managerial, and financial capabilities so that they can provide safe drinking water consistently, reliably and cost effectively. Periodically assess the technical, managerial and financial capacity of waterworks and offer assistance in making improvements. Assist all waterworks owners in the preparation and distribution of their annual Consumer Confidence Reports (CCR). A CCR is a water quality report to all consumers that summarizes information regarding safety, source, detected contaminants, and compliance for the waterworks. Review and respond to Bacteriological Siting Reports, Lead and Copper Rule Reports, Cross Connection Control Programs, Comprehensive Business Plans that are required of waterworks by state and federal regulations.
    • Establishment and Implementation of a Water Quality Monitoring Program: Work with the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services (DCLS), certified commercial laboratories, and waterworks to assure that drinking water quality analyses are performed in a timely manner. Periodically coordinate with DCLS to assure that its staff is aware of potential biological and chemical weapons that could be employed against waterworks and is moving towards having a rapid response capability if an incident occurs or may have occurred. Evaluate the results of drinking water tests to ensure the public is being provided safe drinking water.
    • Emergency Assistance: Maintain an emergency pollution response system which would quickly notify any potentially affected waterworks of any reported pollution event (e.g., accidental or intentional chemical spill, raw sewage discharge, terrorist attack, etc.) Continuously maintain coordination with the State Epidemiologist and Bioterrorism Program Coordinator on security issues related to potential weapons of mass destruction attacks and incidents of tampering with waterworks. Assist in developing any waterworks actions deemed necessary as a result of any terrorist threat or increased security activities. Recommend appropriate emergency preparedness responses for waterworks owners and operators and other involved parties. Provide waterworks owners counter measure guidance on strengthening critical assets and other facilities. Securing and protecting drinking water is critical to ensuring the availability of a safe supply. Provide security audits on an as-requested basis.
    • Data Base Development and Maintenance: Maintain State Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS/State) to ensure a complete and accurate inventory of all of Virginia’s waterworks. Coordinate and maintain the electronic data interchange of drinking water quality analysis data from DCLS and private laboratories. Maintain the automated billing system to assist and expedite the receipt of funds from the annual waterworks operation fee. Ensure continuing coordination with the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA).
    • Enforcement and Compliance with Regulations: Implement all drinking water regulations within prescribed timeframe. Alert all affected Virginia waterworks owners of their responsibilities under any new federal drinking water regulations as soon as the new rule summary is available. Ensure that affected waterworks owners provide the required Consumer Confidence Report to consumers on an annual basis. Take timely, appropriate, fair, consistent, and effective enforcement actions using a variety of enforcement tools to bring waterworks into compliance. Such enforcement tools include informal conferences, informal fact finding proceedings, administrative orders, consent orders, formal hearings, civil suits, and criminal actions. Prepare enforcement cases for referral to the Office of the Attorney General to initiate civil action. Issue emergency orders in any case where there is an imminent danger to the public health resulting from the operation on any waterworks or the source of a water supply.
    • Resource to Other State and Federal Agencies: Serve on the Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force. Serve as liaison to the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) to assure that: (1) waterworks operator license testing is appropriate and that the licensure rule is being applied fairly, (2) changes to DPOR regulations are in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act, (3) qualifications of waterworks operators applying for licensure meet DPOR regulatory requirements, (4) training curricular for waterworks operators comply with regulations. Represent the drinking water infrastructure on the Virginia Department of Emergency Management’s Infrastructure Protection Task Force. Serve on the Groundwater Protection Steering Committee to help stimulate, strengthen, and coordinate groundwater activities in Virginia.
Finance
  • Financial Overview
    This service area is funded by General and Non-General Fund revenues. Non-General Fund revenues consist of Waterworks Operation Fees and the Public Water System Supervision federal grant. The Waterworks Operation Fees are fees that are assessed annually on Virginia's waterworks based on the number of connections or the classification of the waterworks.

    Level General and Non-General Fund revenues will result in spending down the fund balance in the Waterworks Operations Fees account and will result in an increase in the annual Waterworks Operation Fees charged to Virginia's waterworks. In addition, General Fund support will be needed to maintain current level of service.
  • Financial Breakdown
    FY 2009    FY 2010
      General Fund     Nongeneral Fund        General Fund     Nongeneral Fund  
    Base Budget $2,299,133 $7,153,005    $2,299,133 $7,153,005
    Change To Base $-145,130 $0    $-256,120 $0
               
    Service Area Total   $2,154,003  $7,153,005     $2,043,013  $7,153,005 
Human Resources
  • Human Resources Overview
    [Nothing entered]
  • Human Resource Levels
    Effective Date      
    Total Authorized Position level Ø    
    Vacant Positions Ø    
    Current Employment Level 0.0    
    Non-Classified (Filled)    
    Full-Time Classified (Filled)    breakout of Current Employment Level
    Part-Time Classified (Filled)    
    Faculty (Filled)    
    Wage    
    Contract Employees    
    Total Human Resource Level 0.0   = Current Employment Level + Wage and Contract Employees
  • Factors Impacting HR
    [Nothing entered]
  • Anticipated HR Changes
    [Nothing entered]
Service Area Objectives
 
  • Conduct routine inspections of waterworks
    Objective Description
    Provide routine inspections of waterworks to ensure safe drinking water to Virginia’s citizens. The Office of Drinking Water (ODW) staff will perform routine inspections of waterworks to evaluate the capability of waterworks to consistently and reliably deliver an adequate quality and quantity of safe drinking water to consumers and to comply with state and federal drinking water standards.
    Alignment to Agency Goals
    • Agency Goal:
      Comment: This objective also aligns with Virginia’s long term objectives to “Protect the public’s safety and security, ensuring a fair and effective system of justice and providing a prepared response to emergencies and disasters of all kinds” and “Inspire and support Virginians toward healthy lives and strong and resilient families.
    Objective Strategies
    • Maintain an adequate and trained field staff.
    • Provide an annual reallocation of field staff to match numbers of waterworks to ensure sufficient resources to complete required tasks.
    • Monitor competing field staff tasks to ensure adequate time for inspections.
    • Monitor status of measure quarterly.
    Objective Measures
    • Number of routine waterworks inspections conducted in accordance with ODW schedule
      Measure Class:
      Other
      Measure Type:
      Output
      Measure Frequency:
      Annual
      Preferred Trend:
      Up
      Measure Baseline Value:
      1772
      Date:
      6/30/2004

      Measure Baseline Description: Number of waterworks inspections

      Measure Target Value:
      1850
      Date:
      6/30/2010

      Measure Target Description: Number of waterworks inspections

      Data Source and Calculation: This measure is reported directly to ODW’s internal proprietary software program.


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