The Water System Restructuring Assessment Rule

Water System Restructuring Assessment Rule

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing a Water System Restructuring Assessment Rule, which outlines a framework for states, public water systems, and the communities they serve to evaluate options for restructuring to help ensure safe, reliable drinking water. Water system restructuring changes may include operational changes, upgrades to or replacement of water system infrastructure, interconnection with another system, consolidation, or transfer of ownership.

The proposed rule also would allow states to require an assessment of a water system and would establish incentives for water systems to identify options and submit restructuring plans, particularly systems that regularly fail to meet the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

The proposed regulation includes three main elements: a new mandatory assessment authority for states; requirements for implementing an assessment; and incentives for water systems to restructure. The incentives include eligibility to use Drinking Water State Revolving Funds to implement the restructuring, protection under SDWA from previous enforcement actions for up to two years and, protection from fines or penalties for compliant water systems that consolidate with or acquire non-compliant water systems.

In addition to the regulatory requirements established by the proposed rule, EPA includes three guiding principles of restructuring that would help ensure that mandatory assessments and restructuring plans are the result of collaborative efforts between states, local authorities, water utilities, and community leaders. These principles include:

Evaluate restructuring alternatives based on the needs of the community.
Engage affected communities directly in restructuring decision making.
Ensure community capacity to make affordable investments in safe drinking water.

Informational Webinar and Listening Sessions

The EPA held an informational webinar about the proposed Water System Restructuring Assessment Rule on June 5, 2024 for the general public, local, state, and federal government agencies, environmental and public interested groups, water utilities and water utility associations, and technical assistance providers. The webinar provides background on the rulemaking, summarizes the proposed regulatory requirements, and concludes with the EPA's response to questions from webinar participants. The webinar recording can be found here, and slides from the webinar can be found below. If you need captions, please click the "CC" button on the player to enable captions.

The EPA hosted two national listening sessions on July 17, 2024 and July 24, 2024 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM ET to allow for maximum public participation and engagement during the public comment period. Each listening session included the same material and was open to all interested parties who wish to attend. Slides, recordings, and both English and Spanish transcripts from the two listening sessions are available below.

Water System Restructuring Rule Listening Session Slide Deck (pdf) (1014.94 KB)