Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule

The Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule^[1] (“LT2ESWTR” or simply “LT2”) is a modification of the 1973 Safe Drinking Water Act that was adopted on March 6, 2006 by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The rule put in place more stringent treatment requirements for surface drinking water, for the stated purpose of controlling spread of the microorganism Cryptosporidium.

Historical context

Drafting of the LT2 rule began following the 1993 Milwaukee Cryptosporidiosis outbreak, in which it is believed that municipal sewage infected with Cryptosporidium was accidentally discharged into the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin's drinking water.^[2]

Controversy

The LT2 rule has been criticized for mandating costly public works projects (such as coverage of open-air reservoirs) that may be unnecessary^[3] and/or unlikely to address the kind of problem that was responsible for the Milwaukee incident. As stated by William R. MacKenzie, M.D., a Centers for Disease Control epidemiologist who served as the Epidemic Intelligence Officer on the Milwaukee case, "Standards for water treatment facilities were about to be implemented throughout the nation; but even those would not have stopped the Milwaukee outbreak."^[2]

Critics have alleged that LT2's mandates may have been aimed more at appeasing the corporate public-works-engineering industry, which lobbied the Environmental Protection Agency during the LT2 drafting process, and which has benefited from hundreds of millions of dollars in ensuing public works contracts.^[4][5]

Status

In response to growing criticism that the rule unfairly burdens public water systems that are not exposed to municipal sewage, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced on August 19, 2011, that the EPA would reconsider the scientific validity of LT2's reservoir coverage and treatment requirements during Periodic Retrospective Review of Regulations in 2016.^[6]

References