Capitol Hill’s two leading advocates for allowing community water systems to distribute their annual consumer confidence reports (CCRs) electronically rather than through the postal mail are celebrating EPA’s recent decision that paves the way for web-based reports to begin replacing hard copies as early as this year.
Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) worked with AMWA over the past two years to advance the “End Unnecessary Mailers Act” (H.R. 1340/S 1578). The bills would have amended the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to allow community water systems to share annual CCRs with customers electronically, as long as customers have an opportunity to receive a mailed paper copy upon request. The bills attracted significant bipartisan support over the past two years, but did not pass before the 112th Congress ended at the beginning of January.
The duo had been planning to reintroduce their proposal early this year, but the issue was rendered moot on January 3 when EPA announced a new interpretation of the SDWA statute and the CCR Rule. According to the agency, community water systems will now be considered in compliance with federal CCR delivery requirements if they publish their report on a public website, notify customers of the report’s availability (such as through a notice printed on water bills), and provide a direct URL to the online report. Utilities would only have to mail hard copies to customers who request them, though any water system that prefers to continue distributing all CCRs by postal mail or other hard-copy means may continue to do so.
EPA’s decision “removes excessive paperwork burdens from Pennsylvania’s local communities and will save water authorities tens of thousands of dollars a year,” Sen. Toomey said in a press release following EPA’s announcement. “[T]hese utilities will be able to pass on the savings to consumers or improve their services by investing in infrastructure.”
Similarly, Rep. Young thanked the Mayors’ Council of Pinellas County for originally bringing the issue to his attention in 2010. Young went on to say he is honored that his legislation “played a part in convincing the EPA to make this revision, which will benefit both consumers and community water systems.”
AMWA also cheered the announcement of EPA’s decision, calling it “a victory for water systems and consumers” and noting that it could help metropolitan communities across the country save nearly $20 million in printing and postage costs every year.
Water systems will be allowed to begin utilizing electronic communication of CCRs this year. Utilities are encouraged to review EPA’s memorandum explaining permissible methods of electronic CCR communication, and to work with their state primacy agencies to answer any questions about appropriate electronic approaches.