WASHINGTON, DC, May 28, 2009 -- [From the Federal Register] In this notice, EPA is announcing the revised Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) allotments that will be provided to the States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Territories, American Indian Tribes, and Alaska Native Villages if the President's budget request for Fiscal Year 2010 is enacted. These allotments reflect the results from EPA's most recent Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment, which was released on March 26, 2009. The revised State allotment percentages will be the basis for distributing the DWSRF program appropriations to the States for the four years from Fiscal Years 2010 through 2013.
This notice is effective May 28, 2009.
For inquiries, contact Travis Creighton, Drinking Water Protection Division, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (4606M), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564-3858; fax number: (202) 564-3757; e-mail address: [email protected].
Copies of this document and information on the Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment and the DWSRF program can be found on EPA's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water Web site.
Supplementary Information
The 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments established a DWSRF program and Congress has appropriated $10.3 billion, in total, for the program since its inception through Fiscal Year (FY) 2009. Congress directed that allotments for FY 1998 and each subsequent year would be distributed among States based on the results of an assessment by EPA of the relative infrastructure investment needs of the drinking water systems within each state (SDWA section 1452(a)(1)(D)(ii)), which must be conducted every four years.
EPA's Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment
EPA's first assessment, which reflected 1995 survey data, was released in February 1997; the second assessment, which reflected 1999 survey data, was released in February 2001; and the 2003 assessment was released in 2005. The 2007 Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment (Needs Assessment) was released on March 26, 2009 (EPA 816-R-09-001).
The 2007 Needs Assessment was completed in cooperation with the States. The States participated in both the design of the survey and in the collection of data. The survey examined the needs of water systems and used these data to determine the aggregate infrastructure investment needs of drinking water systems within each individual State. The survey included: All of the nation's 584 largest systems, each serving over 100,000 people; a statistical sample of 2,266 systems, each serving 3,301-100,000 people; and a statistical sample of 600 small water systems, each serving fewer than 3,301 people.
The sample design for the survey and assessment produces a statistically-valid State-by-State bottom-line estimate of the total need, which reflects the capital costs for all drinking water infrastructure projects allowed for inclusion in the survey. The 2007 Needs Assessment also presents capital needs for each State by system size and by category of need (i.e., treatment, distribution and transmission, storage, source, and ``other').
In general, an infrastructure project was included in the Needs Assessment if project documentation demonstrated that meeting the need would address the public health objectives of SDWA. The total State need includes both projects that are currently needed and future projects that will be needed over the next 20 years. Projects to correct immediate public health threats (e.g., replacing a deteriorated filter plant) are given the same weight in the assessment as less critical needs (e.g., replacing a storage tank that is expected to reach the end of its useful life in five years). The Needs Assessment excluded capital projects that are ineligible for DWSRF program assistance, such as dams, reservoirs and projects needed solely for growth.
The 2007 Needs Assessment found that the total national need is $334.8 billion. This estimate represents the needs of the approximately 52,000 community water systems and 21,400 not-for-profit non-community water systems that are eligible to receive DWSRF program assistance. These systems are found in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, on American Indian lands and in Alaska Native Villages, and the Virgin Island and Pacific Island territories.
>> For more information, view this notice in the Federal Register
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