CRS Report: ‘Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) – A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements’.
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Summary This report summarizes the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and its major programs and regulatory requirements.
It reviews revisions to the act since its enactment in 1974, including the drinking water security provisions added to the SDWA by the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (P.L.
107-188) and lead reduction provisions as amended by P.L.
111-380 (including amendments made by P.L.
First enacted in 1974 and substantially amended and reauthorized in 1986 and 1996, the act is administered through programs that establish standards and treatment requirements for public water supplies, promote compliance capacity of public water systems, provide technical assistance to small water systems, control the underground injection of fluids, finance infrastructure projects, and protect sources of drinking water.
In the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 (P.L.
104-182), Congress reauthorized appropriations for most SDWA programs through FY2003.
In addition to reviewing key programs and requirements of the SDWA, this report includes statistics on the number and types of regulated public water systems and lists all major amendments with the year of enactment and public law number.