110 STAT. 1652 PUBLIC LAW 104-182—AUG. 6, 1996 Federal Register, publication. 42 USC 300g-8. SEC. 123. OPERATOR CERTIFICATION. Part B (42 U.S.C. 300g et seq.) is amended by adding the following after section 1418: "OPERATOR CERTIFICATION "SEC. 1419. (a) GUIDELINES. —Not later than 30 months after the date of enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 and in cooperation with the States, the Administrator shall publish guidelines in the Federal Register, after notice and opportunity for comment from interested persons, including States and public water systems, specifying minimum standards for certification (and recertification) of the operators of community and nontransient noncommunity public water systems. Such guidelines shall take into account existing State programs, the complexity of the system, and other factors aimed at providing an effective program at reasonable cost to States and public water systems, taking into account the size of the system. "(b) STATE PROGRAMS. —Beginning 2 years after the date on which the Administrator publishes guidelines under subsection (a), the Administrator shall withhold 20 percent of the funds a State is otherwise entitled to receive under section 1452 unless the State has adopted and is implementing a program for the certification of operators of community and nontransient noncommunity public water systems that meets the requirements of the guidelines published pursuant to subsection (a) or that has been submitted in compliance with subsection (c) and that has not been disapproved. "(c) EXISTING PROGRAMS. — For any State exercising primary enforcement responsibility for public water systems or any other State which has an operator certification program, the guidelines under subsection (a) shall allow the State to enforce such program in lieu of the guidelines under subsection (a) if the State submits the program to the Administrator within 18 months after the publication of the guidelines unless the Administrator determines (within 9 months after the State submits the program to the Administrator) that such program is not substantially equivalent to such guidelines. In making this determination, an existing State program shall be presumed to be substantially equivalent to the guidelines, notwithstanding program differences, based on the size of systems or the quality of source water, providing the State program meets the overall public health objectives of the guidelines. If disapproved, the program may be resubmitted within 6 months after receipt of notice of disapproval. "(d) EXPENSE REIMBURSEMENT.— "(1) IN GENERAL. — The Administrator shall provide reimbursement for the costs of training, including an appropriate per diem for unsalaried operators, and certification for persons operating systems serving 3,300 persons or fewer that are required to undergo training pursuant to this section. "(2) STATE GRANTS.— The reimbursement shall be provided through grants to States with each State receiving an amount sufficient to cover the reasonable costs for training all such operators in the State, as determined by the Administrator, to the extent required by this section. Grants received by a State pursuant to this paragraph shall first be used to provide reimbursement for training and certification costs of persons operating systems serving 3,300 persons or fewer. If a State
�
