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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:24.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">EPA Outlines Actions to Improve Safety, Reliability of Nation’s Drinking Water<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Plan depends on collaboration among all levels of government, utilities, private sector<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">11/30/2016<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Contact Information: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Enesta Jones (<a href="mailto:jones.enesta@epa.gov"><span style="color:#336699">jones.enesta@epa.gov</span></a>)
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">(202) 564-7873, (202) 564-4355<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">WASHINGTON –</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today released a plan that serves as a national call to action, urging all levels of government, utilities, community organizations, and other stakeholders to work together to increase the safety and reliability of
drinking water.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“Ensuring that all Americans have access to safe drinking water is an absolute top priority for EPA,”
said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “We must work collectively to seize opportunities for progress, partnership, and innovation in order to continue to provide our citizens with the safest drinking water in the world.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The plan includes six priority areas and identifies proposed actions for each area:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Building capacity for water infrastructure financing and management in disadvantaged, small, and environmental justice communities:</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
Actions include launching a national initiative to promote regional partnerships, reinvigorating training programs for system operators, sharing best practices and establishing an online water funding portal.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Advancing oversight of the Safe Drinking Water Act</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">: Actions include electronic reporting
for Safe Drinking Water Act compliance data, releasing triennial EPA reviews of state programs, and developing indicators to identify troubled systems.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Strengthening source water protection and resilience of drinking water supplies:</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> Actions
include updating and acting on source water vulnerability assessments, building collaborative local partnerships for watershed protection, developing an initiative to enhance community resilience to climate and extreme weather events, launching source water
monitoring pilot projects and promoting water efficiency and reuse.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Addressing unregulated contaminants:</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> Actions include strengthening the effectiveness of the
health advisory program, prioritizing work on contaminants that pose the most significant risk, and promoting the development of low cost and innovative technologies that may remove a broad range of contaminants. <o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Improving transparency, public education, and risk communication on drinking water safety:
</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Actions include strengthening transparency and public education, developing indicators to enhance how data is presented on the internet and improving risk communication
tools.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Reducing lead risks:</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> Actions include the consideration of critical options in revising the
Lead and Copper Rule and continuing work to improve implementation of the current rule through enhanced oversight, identifying best practices on lead service line replacement, and revising guidance for schools.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The plan reflects input from state, local, and tribal government officials; drinking water utilities;
community groups; and environmental organizations. While EPA and partners have already begun to take some actions, others will require additional resources and further stakeholder engagement. EPA recognizes that partnership and collaboration across all levels
of government, utilities, the private sector, and the public will be essential to the success of the plan.<br>
<br>
In tandem with the development of the plan, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) undertook a study on science and technology for drinking water safety. The PCAST’s recommendations complement and support EPA’s plan.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Today, Americans depend on 152,000 public drinking water systems and consume more than one billion glasses
of tap water a day. EPA has established drinking water standards for more than 90 contaminants, and compliance data show that more than 90 percent of the nation’s water systems consistently meet those standards. While America’s drinking water remains among
the safest in the world, the drinking water sector faces a growing array of challenges including aging infrastructure, limited funding and management capacity, emerging contaminants, pollution of source water, and the impacts from drought and other climate
events. These challenges can be particularly acute in small and disadvantaged communities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">More information on the plan:
<a href="https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/drinking-water-action-plan">
<span style="color:#336699">https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/drinking-water-action-plan</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">More information on the PCAST report:
<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp/pcast/docsreports" target="_BLANK">
<span style="color:#336699">https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp/pcast/docsreports</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">R183<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/forms/contact-us"><span style="color:#336699">Contact Us</span></a>
to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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