AMERICA’S WATER INFRASTRUCTURE ACT
Passed by Congress in October 2018, America’s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) requires each community water system serving more than 3,300 people to develop Risk and Resilience Assessments that considers the risks to the water system from malevolent acts and natural hazards. The law also requires an Emergency Response Plan (ERP) for the water system to be developed, or the existing ERP for the water system be updated, based on the results of the completed Risk and Resilience Assessment. The law specifies the components that the Risk and Resilience Assessment and Emergency Response Plans must address, and establishes deadlines by which water systems must certify to EPA that the Risk and Resilience Assessment and Emergency Response Plans have been completed. Wastewater treatment plants are not required to meet AWIA requirements at this time.
Each community water system must submit a certification to EPA that the system conducted the Risk and Resilience Assessment and completed an Emergency Response Plan based on the results of the assessment. The deadlines for submitting the Risk and Resilience Assessment for certification are based on the population serviced by the water system and are as follows:
- March 31, 2020 if serving = 100,000 people
- December 31, 2020 if serving 50,000 to 99,999 people
- June 30, 2021 if serving 3,301 to 49,999 people
An Emergency Response Plan addressing the findings of the completed Risk and Resilience Assessment must be completed within six months after submission and certification of the Risk and Resilience Assessment.
Every five years, each community water system must review and, if necessary, revise the risk and resilience assessment and submit a recertification to the U.S. EPA.
YOU PROTECT THE WATER SUPPLY. WE PROTECT YOU.
For almost two decades, MunicipalH2O has worked exclusively with water and wastewater utilities providing them with services that help them easily meet regulatory compliance and safety requirements for their operation so they can focus on the delivery of a clean and dependable supply of water for their community.
Need help with the Risk and Resilience Assessment and Emergency Response Plan for your water system?
If you need assistance complying with AWIA, MunicipalH2O can help. Since 2003, we have focused on providing professionally-delivered services to help water and wastewater operations meet their unique regulatory compliance requirements and general safety needs in a cost-effective and reliable manner. We have experience working with municipal water and wastewater facilities to assist them with Risk Management Program compliance, Emergency Response Planning, completion of Vulnerability Assessments, Risk and Resilience Assessments and other services to ensure a safe operating environment.
Our project approach for completing a Risk and Resilience Assessment is simple. We utilize the AWIA guidance documents and tools provided by EPA and supporting program information provided by the American Water Works Association as the basis of our approach for gathering information needed to complete the Risk and Resilience Assessment. Information is gathered from numerous water utility resources with a minimum amount of disruption from their normal activities. The result of our process and project approach allows us to complete a Risk and Resilience Assessment and Emergency Response Plan that meets all requirements of AWIA regulations in a cost-effective manner.
No Obligation Proposal
If you would like a no obligation proposal for MunicipalH2O’s assistance in completing AWIA requirements for your water system, please call us at 1-800-897-9425 or contact us by email.
AWIA RESOURCES