Region 6 Compliance Assurance and Enforcement

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Public Water Supply
(6EN-WR)

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) was passed in 1974 and all of the States (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas) have been delegated primary enforcement authority or what is called "primacy". The 1986 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act, in effect, created a drinking water enforcement program in EPA. The Public Water Supply (PWS) Enforcement Team has a Program Manager assigned to each State and that individual is the focal point for implementation of EPA Regional policy for "timely" and "appropriate" enforcement responses to violations. Violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act are prioritized according to the severity of the violations, the worst cases being "significant non-compliers". The Enforcement Program Manager serves as a technical expert in providing engineering guidance to water systems to remediate violations. This technical assistance is generally achieved by working directly with mayors, city managers, owners, operators or their consulting engineers or attorneys.

• Federal/State Drinking Water Statutes are enforced fairly and effectively.
• Timely and appropriate enforcement actions are taken against significant SDWA violators and these actions will serve as a deterrent to future violators.
• The State Environmental Agencies, the regulated community, and concerned citizens have access to accurate information to effectively participate in sensitive drinking water discussions.