RE: State roles in public participation

[Anne Pamperl <anne.pamperl@hhss.state.ne.us>]

Hi Terry - I don't know about other states and programs, but in the Nebraska Drinking Water Program, our state statues say we an only comply with and enforce EPA regulations. That means if they tell us we have to comply with their policy, our hands are tied. My program does more than required by our regulations in the area of public participation. However, we can't do everything the draft EPA public participation policy calls for in timely fashion. For example, we have no control over the website that serves Health and Human Services (Drinking Water is a small part of this huge department) We provide them with documents and information, but it doesn't get added to the site in timely fashion, if at all. If EPA tells us we have to do this, we literally can't. (This isn't as bad as it sounds to folks with great Internet access. Some of our water operators have Internet access, many do not. All are used to contacting us here in Lincoln or calling their field representatives from the Drinking Water Program when they need info or have a question.)