On July 19, the General Accountability Office (GAO) released a report, “Unreliable State Data Limit EPA’s Ability to Target Enforcement Priorities and Communicate Water Systems’ Performance,” critical of the quality of states’ drinking water violation data. The critical assessment is based in part on an analysis of 2009 EPA audit data for 14 states showing that EPA did not report or inaccurately reported 26 percent (778) of health-based violations and 84 percent (54,600) of monitoring violations required to be reported under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
The 2009 figures cited in the report are in line with estimates from previous years’ audits and are seen as an impediment to efficient enforcement prioritization. Inadequate staffing, training, guidance and associated funding are cited as major reasons for the data quality issues. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) commissioned the GAO report and used the occasion of its release to highlight the critical nature of this type of “safety information” and the associated need to maintain funding for EPA’s program offices.
In response to the report’s release, EPA issued a statement on July 20 acknowledging its findings, but stressing that it is aware of the issues raised and has several efforts ongoing to address them. These efforts include updates to the Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) to allow EPA direct access to state enforcement and monitoring violation reporting and its 2009 Drinking Water Enforcement Response Policy. Given EPA’s initial response to the report, it is unclear what, if any, new steps will be taken to rectify the data quality issues at this time. The GAO report is available online.