How to Prepare for an RTCR Level 2 Assessment

A Level 2 assessment is a more detailed examination of the source, treatment, distribution, and sampling practice under the Revised Total Coliform Rule. 40 CFR 141.859(a)(2) starts it. 40 CFR 141.859(b)(4) says it must be conducted by the state or a party the state approves, as soon as practical after the trigger, and you must submit the completed state form within 30 days of the day the system learned it triggered.

This page is how to prepare for that walk and how to close the form. It is not the Level 1 self-assessment: How to prepare for an RTCR Level 1 assessment. It is not the E. coli MCL response itself: E. coli and total coliform violation response. Confirm who may sign and which form the state wants. This isn't legal advice.

What actually triggers a Level 2

40 CFR 141.859(a)(2) names the Level 2 treatment-technique triggers:

• An E. coli MCL violation under 40 CFR 141.860(a). That is its own public-notice and repeat-sample track. The Level 2 is the assessment that rides with it, not a substitute for the 24-hour notice.
• A second Level 1 in a rolling 12-month period, unless the state already named the likely cause of the first Level 1 and confirmed that the system corrected it. Two Level 1 events in twelve months is the usual small-system path into Level 2.
• For a system on annual coliform monitoring, a Level 1 trigger in two consecutive annual-monitoring years.

A single total-coliform-positive with a complete set of clean repeats is not a Level 2. A first Level 1 in twelve months is not a Level 2. Do not fill a Level 1 form and write "Level 2" at the top. Monthly sample counts live here: RTCR total coliform sampling frequency.

Who may perform it (not just the same operator)

The rule is blunt: Level 2 assessments must be conducted by parties approved by the State (40 CFR 141.859(b)(1) and (b)(4)). In practice that means one of these, and only the ones your primacy agency has actually approved:

• The state inspector or a state contractor, if the state says it will do the assessment.
• A third party on the state's approved-assessor list (a circuit rider, a consulting operator, an engineer the state has named).
• A system staff member, if the state has approved that person for Level 2. Holding a Level 1 form from last spring does not make the same operator an approved Level 2 assessor.

Call the primacy contact the day you learn of the trigger. Ask three things: who may conduct it, which form to use, and whether they want to be on site. Wyoming systems ask EPA Region 8. The District of Columbia and tribal systems ask the EPA region with primacy. If the state will perform it, your job is access, records, and the corrective-action piece, not a homemade report.

For an E. coli MCL, 141.859(b)(4) also says you must comply with any expedited or additional actions the state requires. That can be a same-week site visit, a boil-water notice, or a source taken offline. Those instructions override a "we will get to the form next month" plan.

The 30-day clock, sanitary defects, and corrective action

The walk happens as soon as practical. The completed Level 2 form is due 30 days after the system learns it exceeded the trigger. Put three dates on one line: the collection date that completed the trigger, the date you learned, and day 30. If the state uses the collection date as day zero, use that.

The form must describe sanitary defects found, corrective actions already finished, and a proposed timetable for anything still open. It may also say that no sanitary defects were identified. A sanitary defect, in 40 CFR 141.2, is a defect that could provide a pathway of entry for microbial contamination into the distribution system, or that is indicative of a failure or imminent failure in a barrier that is already in place. That is tighter than a sanitary-survey recommendation. Name the defect in those words, then say what you fixed.

Correct the defects by the day you submit the form, or inside a timetable the state accepts. 40 CFR 141.859(c) requires you to notify the state when each later action is finished. If the state says the form is not sufficient, you consult, then you resubmit on an agreed schedule that may not exceed 30 days from that consult. Failure to do the assessment, failure to correct a sanitary defect, or failure to stay inside a state-accepted timetable is a treatment-technique violation under 40 CFR 141.860. See MCL vs treatment technique vs action level.

What to have ready before the assessor arrives

A Level 2 is a deeper look at the same minimum elements in 141.859(b)(2). The assessor still has to evaluate sample sites and the siting plan, sampling protocol, sample processing, atypical events, distribution and storage, and source and treatment where they bear on distributed water. You make that possible:

• The written coliform siting plan and the last 12 months of routine and repeat results, with chain-of-custody sheets. See RTCR coliform sample siting plan.
• Residual logs, tank-inspection logs, flush records, and pressure or complaint logs for the trigger month and the months around it.
• The last sanitary-survey letter and the closeout status of every finding. An open well-seal finding is on-topic.
• Source and treatment records. Well construction, sanitary cap and vent, raw and finished residuals, any bypass, any recent chemical change. Groundwater systems that had a distribution TC+ also owe a triggered source sample. That clock is separate: Groundwater Rule triggered source-water monitoring.
• Access. Keys to the wellhouse, the tank hatch, the sample taps on the plan, and a person who can speak to what happened the week of the trigger.
• The PWSID on every page you hand over. If you need the number, use PWSID lookup.

Photograph the wellhead, the tank hatch, and each sample tap the same day you get the lab call, before anyone "tidies up" the site. The assessor needs the condition that existed, not the condition after a weekend of repairs you never documented.

What the form has to say, and what you still owe besides the form

• Use the state's Level 2 item numbers. Do not merge three defects into one paragraph about "the well."
• For each defect: what was seen, why it is a pathway or a failed barrier, what was done, the date, and the evidence (photo, work order, residual log).
• If a fix will miss day 30, propose a date the state can accept. A timetable the state never approved is not a timetable under 141.859(c).
• Collect any remaining repeats and any triggered source sample. A Level 2 does not cancel bottles you still owe.
• If the trigger was an E. coli MCL, run the public-notice track the same day. The assessment form does not satisfy Tier 1. See SDWA public notice tiers.

The day you learn you triggered Level 2

• Write the learn date. Count 30 days.
• Call the state. Ask who is approved to conduct the Level 2, which form to use, and whether they will do it themselves.
• Do not assign last month's Level 1 operator unless the state confirms that person is approved for Level 2.
• Pull the siting plan, twelve months of results, residual logs, and the last survey letter. Photograph the sites.
• Start or finish any repeats and any triggered source sample the same day.
• Correct what you can before the form goes in. Schedule what you cannot. Submit on or before day 30. Keep the sent copy.

FAQ

Can the same operator who did our Level 1 also do the Level 2?

Only if the primacy agency has approved that person as a Level 2 assessor. Many states will not accept the same in-house operator for Level 2, especially after an E. coli MCL. Ask before anyone walks the site. A Level 1 form signed by an unapproved party does not become a Level 2 because you changed the title.

Is a sanitary survey a substitute for a Level 2?

The state can conduct a sanitary survey in lieu of a Level 2 if it covers the assessment elements and meets the 30-day clock. You cannot make that call. If the state wants a survey-style visit, they will say so. You still owe the form they name, on their date.

Does an E. coli MCL always mean Level 2?

Yes. An E. coli MCL violation is a Level 2 trigger under 141.859(a)(2). You also owe the MCL public notice, the repeats, and any extra actions the state orders. The assessment is one of those jobs, not the only one.

What if we find no sanitary defect?

Say so on the form, item by item. The state still reviews it and can require a revision. "No defects" does not erase the E. coli MCL or the second Level 1 that triggered the assessment.

Check my system at /find-my-system.

Orevant provides compliance information tools. This page isn't legal advice. Confirm the Level 2 trigger, the approved assessor, and the 30-day date with your primacy agency.