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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 231 / Monday, December 6, 2021 / Proposed Rules
i Immediately discontinue the uses and meet the requirements of 112.45a before resuming such uses; and ii Resume testing at least four times per growing season or year, as required under paragraph b1 of this section, until all of the survey results collected in a year meet the microbial quality criterion.
4 You may meet these testing requirements using test results or data collected by a third party, as provided in 112.47.
c Exemptions. There is no requirement to test agricultural water that is used as sprout irrigation water or for harvesting, packing, or holding covered produce when:
1 You receive the water from a Public Water System, as defined under the Safe Drinking Water Act SDWA
regulations, 40 CFR part 141, that furnishes water that meets the microbial requirements under those regulations or under the regulations of a State as defined in 40 CFR 141.2 approved to administer the SDWA public water supply program, and you have Public Water System results or certificates of compliance that demonstrate that the water meets those microbial requirements;
2 You receive the water from a public water supply that furnishes water that meets the microbial quality criterion in paragraph a of this section, and you have public water system results or certificates of compliance that demonstrate that the water meets that requirement; or 3 You treat water in accordance with the requirements of 112.46.
d Additional management and monitoring practices. 1 You must manage water used in harvesting, packing, and holding covered produce as necessary, including by establishing and following water-change schedules for non-single-pass water including recirculated water or reused water to maintain its safe and adequate sanitary quality and minimize the potential for contamination of covered produce and food contact surfaces with known or reasonably foreseeable hazards for example, hazards that may be introduced into the water from soil adhering to the covered produce.
2 You must visually monitor the quality of water that you use during harvesting, packing, and holding activities for covered produce for example, water used for washing covered produce in dump tanks, flumes, or wash tanks, and water used for cooling covered produce in hydrocoolers for buildup of organic material such as soil and plant debris.

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3 You must maintain and monitor the temperature of water at a temperature that is appropriate for the commodity and operation considering the time and depth of submersion and that is adequate to minimize the potential for infiltration of microorganisms of public health significance into covered produce.
112.45 What measures must I take for agricultural water to reduce the potential for contamination of covered produce or food contact surfaces with known or reasonably foreseeable hazards?

a Discontinue uses. If you have determined or have reason to believe that your agricultural water is not safe or of adequate sanitary quality for its intended uses in growing, harvesting, packing, or holding covered produce as required under 112.41, and/or if your agricultural water used as sprout irrigation water or for harvesting, packing, or holding activities does not meet the requirements in 112.44a including the microbial quality criterion, you must immediately discontinue such uses. Before you may use the water source and/or distribution system again for the intended uses, you must either:
1 Re-inspect the entire affected agricultural water system to the extent it is under your control, identify any conditions that are reasonably likely to introduce known or reasonably foreseeable hazards into or onto covered produce or food contact surfaces, make necessary changes, and take adequate measures to determine if your changes were effective, and, as applicable, ensure that your agricultural water meets the microbial quality criterion in 112.44a; or 2 Treat the water in accordance with the requirements of 112.46.
b Implement mitigation measures.
1 You must implement any mitigation measures that are reasonably necessary to reduce the potential for contamination of covered produce other than sprouts or food contact surfaces with known or reasonably foreseeable hazards associated with your agricultural water. Such measures must be implemented as soon as practicable and no later than 1 year after the date of your agricultural water assessment or reassessment as required by 112.43, except that mitigation measures for known or reasonably foreseeable hazards related to animal activity, or the application of biological soil amendments of animal origin or the presence of untreated or improperly treated human waste on adjacent or nearby lands, must be implemented promptly, and no later than the same
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growing season as such assessment or reassessment. Mitigation measures include:
i Making necessary changes for example, repairs to address any conditions that are reasonably likely to introduce such known or reasonably foreseeable hazards into or onto the covered produce or food contact surfaces;
ii Increasing the time interval between the last direct application of agricultural water and harvest of the covered produce to allow for microbial die-off with a minimum interval of 4
days between application and harvest, except as supported by test results conducted under 112.43d, or other scientifically valid data or information in accordance with 112.12;
iii Increasing the time interval between harvest and the end of storage using an appropriate microbial die-off rate, and/or conducting other activities, such as commercial washing, to reduce pathogens using appropriate microbial removal rates, provided you have scientifically valid supporting data and information;
iv Changing the method of water application to reduce the likelihood of contamination of the covered produce such as by changing from overhead spray to subsurface drip irrigation of certain crops;
v Treating the water in accordance with 112.46; and vi Taking an alternative mitigation measure, provided that you satisfy the requirements of 112.12.
2 If you fail to implement appropriate mitigation measures in accordance with paragraph b1 of this section, or if you determine that your mitigation measures were not effective to reduce the potential for contamination of the covered produce or food contact surfaces with known or reasonably foreseeable hazards, you must discontinue use of the agricultural water until you have implemented mitigation measures adequate to reduce the potential for such contamination, consistent with 112.41.
112.46 What requirements apply to treating agricultural water?

a Any method you use to treat agricultural water such as with physical treatment, including using a pesticide device as defined by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency EPA; EPA-registered antimicrobial pesticide product; or other suitable method must be effective to make the water safe and of adequate sanitary quality for its intended uses and/or meet the microbial quality criterion in 112.44, as applicable;

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