EPA Deputy Assistant Administrator Joel Beauvais announced in April the agency is taking steps to develop a national action plan to address drinking water problems around the country. Recognizing that many challenges are too big for EPA to tackle alone, Beauvais said the agency “will launch a targeted engagement with key state co-regulators, regulated utilities, and nongovernmental stakeholders on priority issues related to implementing the Safe Drinking Water Act.” The focus of that engagement will include:
- Identifying and initiating work on critical next steps to strengthen and modernize implementation of Safe Drinking Water Act regulations and programs.
- Identifying additional steps to better ensure that drinking water infrastructure challenges of low-income environmental justice communities and small systems are being prioritized and addressed.
- Collaborating to make progress on implementing the current Lead and Copper Rule and expanding opportunities for stakeholder engagement to support the development of a revised rule.
- Developing and implementing improved approaches through which EPA and stakeholders can work together to prioritize and address the challenges posed by emerging and unregulated contaminants.
In each area, Beauvais said EPA, its partners and stakeholders would set a strategic agenda and identify and implement priority, near-term actions to be taken in the coming months. By the end of this year, a summary of progress and a national action plan for the future will be issued.