EPA Releases New Website Enabling the Public to Track Compliance Status of Public Water Systems
WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 8, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) dashboard, a user-friendly website that presents data about violations and the compliance status of public water systems. The dashboard contains interactive charts and graphs that provide information regarding the compliance of public water systems with federal drinking water regulations, as well as enforcement actions.
“It’s critical that the public knows whether public water systems are complying with laws that protect against harmful pollution in drinking water,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance at EPA. “This dashboard is a vital resource for Americans that want to play an active role to ensure clean drinking water in their communities. The dashboard supports EPA’s commitment to build transparency and engage the public in environmental protection.”
The SDWA dashboard is connected to EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) website, which allows users to assess the compliance status of regulated facilities in their communities. Key features of the SDWA dashboard include:
· It presents annual statistics and five-year trends for public water systems across the U.S., individual states, Indian country and territories, in easy-to-read pie graph and bar chart formats.
· Users can view various sets of data – including violation history, site visits and enforcement actions – sorted onto one screen.
· By clicking on a chart, the user can view more detail about the data represented, and can connect to detailed facility reports for individual non-complying systems.
· All data can be exported, downloaded and printed.
The SDWA dashboard is the latest in a series of online dashboards available through ECHO, including tools for the Clean Water Act’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, the Clean Air Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
The Safe Drinking Water Act is the main federal law that ensures the quality of Americans’ drinking water. Under SDWA, EPA sets standards for drinking water quality and oversees the implementation of those standards by the state, tribal, and territorial agencies, and may bring enforcement actions against any public water systems that violate the standards.
To view the SDWA dashboard, click here: http://echo.epa.gov/trends/comparative-maps-dashboards/drinking-water-dashboard
Contact: Jennifer Colaizzi, 
