“The new and adjusted fees for public water systems (PWS) are necessary to ensure adequate funding for the department to carry out its responsibilities under the SDWA and the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act,” explained Neil Shader, DEP press secretary.
“This funding will allow for the hiring of additional staff to increase the frequency of drinking water inspections throughout the commonwealth.” The new Safe Drinking Water (SDW) annual fee is based on the number of customers a public water system has, according to Shader, who explained that “the revised fee structure for new or amended SDW permits depends on the population served and whether the proposed modification is a minor or major change.” Steve Disney, the Bradford authority executive director, described the financial impact the new fees will have locally.
“Since The Bradford City Water Authority serves approximately 18,000 residents, we fall into the population served category between 10,001-25,000, which constitutes a $20,000 annual fee,” he said.
“Bradford City Water Authority will also see fees charged for construction permits or major construction permit amendments of $5,000 and also for minor construction permit applications of $1,000.” There will be higher fees, but Disney is hopeful the fees will translate into clean water coming from customers’ taps.
“Protecting and improving water quality is always a good thing, and something our board and our employees strive to do every day,” he said.
“I’m hopeful the DEP will work hand-in-hand with each water system to continuously look for ways to improve water quality and will not resort to just over regulating the industry and causing undue financial hardship on the various water systems, which ultimately trickles down to the rate payers.
“We’re all in this together with a common goal of providing an adequate, safe supply of water to our customers at an affordable rate,” Disney added.
“Ensuring that Pennsylvanians have access to safe, clean drinking water is one of the most important roles that DEP has,” said Shader.
“The recommended number of PWSs/per DEP inspector was determined to be 100-125.” Article with images +2 Shader said the biggest positive change to come from more funding — and more inspectors — will be “more frequent inspections, which can identify possible issues with drinking water systems before they affect customers.” Shader said the DEP anticipates generating about $7.5 million in additional funding in 2019 and explained, “These fees are necessary to ensure adequate funding and staff for DEP to carry out its responsibilities under the Federal and State Safe Drinking Water acts,” he said.
“The minimum services that the Safe Drinking Water Program must provide to administer the SDWA and its regulations include monitoring and inspection; maintaining an inventory of public water systems in Pennsylvania; conducting systematic sanitary surveys of public water supply systems; assuring the availability of laboratories certified to analyze drinking water for all contaminants specified in the drinking water standards; reviewing and approving plans and specifications for the design and construction of new or substantially modified public water systems to deliver water that complies with drinking water standards with sufficient volume and pressure to users of the systems; and issuing orders and taking other actions necessary and appropriate for enforcement of drinking water standards.”