Since the US Environmental Protection Agency
(USEPA) enacted the Safe Drinking Water Act
(SWDA) in 1974, an increasingly complex series
of rulemakings has transformed the US drinking water
regulatory program into a labyrinth of requirements
supported by a vast administrative superstructure.
Furthermore, with each amendment of the SDWA, the
paradigm applied to the regulation of drinking water
contaminants has shifted. The financial and personnel
demands imposed by implementation and compliance
with existing and upcoming rules have strained the
limited resources of water utilities, state agencies, and
USEPA itself.
In addition to summarizing the current regulatory
program, this article delineates the patchwork quilt of
requirements specified in the Stage 2 Disfectants/Disinfection
Byproducts Rule and other upcoming regulations.
Unconventional approaches to water supply are
identified that would be more economical than treating
all water piped into the distribution system to strict
USEPA regulatory standards. However, such
approaches - dual distribution systems, point-of-use
devices and point-of-entry treatment, and delivery of
water of differing qualities to meet different customer
needs - could trigger more regulations as well as ethical
and legal issues.
Although safeguarding the nation's public water
system is a worthy and absolute imperative, the
complex regulatory framework and administrative
structure supporting this goal are in danger of collapsing
under their own weight and outstripping
the resources of large and small water systems.
Unless drinking water regulations and their implementation
are streamlined, the long-term efficacy
and viability of the US regulatory program may
remain at risk. Includes 27 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. 96 - No. 3 |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 3.4 MB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 14 |
| Published : | 03/01/2004 |
