The reauthorized federal Safe Drinking Water Act was signed on August 6, 1996. The Act encompasses several major themes:

• The law updates the standard-setting process by focusing regulations on contaminants known to pose greater public health risks.

• It replaces the current law’s demand for 25 new standards every three years with a new process based on occurrence, relative risk, and cost-benefit considerations.

• It also requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to select at least five new candidate contaminants to consider for regulation every five years.

• EPA is directed to require public water systems to provide customers with annual “Consumer Confidence Reports” in newspapers and by direct mail.

• The reports must list levels of regulated contaminants with Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) and Maximum Contaminant Level Goals (MCLGs), along with plainly worded definitions of both.

• The reports must also include a plainly worded statement of the health concerns for any contaminants for which there has been a violation, describe the utility’s sources of drinking water, and provide data on unregulated contaminants for which monitoring is required, including Cryptosporidium and radon.

• EPA must establish a toll-free hot line customers can call to get additional information.

• EPA is required to publish guidelines for states to develop water source assessment programs that delineate protection areas and assess contamination risks.

• A source water petition program for voluntary, incentive-based partnerships among public water systems and others to reduce contamination in source water is authorized.

• The law establishes a new State Revolving Loan Fund (SRLF) of $1 billion per year to provide loans to public water systems to comply with the new SDWA.

• It also requires states to allocate 15 percent of the SRLF to systems serving 10,000 or fewer people unless no eligible projects are available for loans.

• It also allows states to jointly administer SDWA and Clean Water Act loan programs and transfer up to 33 percent between the two accounts.

• EPA is required to identify technologies that are affordable for small systems to comply with drinking water regulations.

• Technical assistance funds and Small System Technical Assistance Centers are authorized to meet the training and technical needs of small systems.

• States are authorized to grant variances for compliance with drinking water regulations for systems serving 3,300 or fewer persons.

• EPA is required to publish certification guidelines for operators of community and nontransient noncommunity public water systems.

• States that do not have operator certification programs that meet the requirements of the guidelines will lose 20 percent of their SRLF grant.

• States must ensure that all new systems have compliance capacity and that all current systems maintain capacity, or they will lose 20 percent of their SRLF grant.

• Although EPA will continue to provide policy, regulations, and guidance, state governments will now have more regulatory flexibility— allowing for improved communication between water providers and their local regulators.

• Increased collaboration will result in solutions that work better and are more fully supported by the regulated community.

• States that have a source water assessment program may adopt alternative monitoring requirements to provide permanent monitoring relief for public water systems in accordance with EPA guidance.