State Public Water System Supervision

The objective of these grants is to provide financial assistance to eligible States and Tribes, those that have Primary Enforcement Responsibility for the Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) Program, for implementation and enforcement of the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act that apply to public water systems. In cases where a State or a Tribe does not have a Primary Enforcement Responsibility program, the EPA is authorized to use funds that would have otherwise been made available to the State or the Tribe to assist it in direct implementation of the PWSS program. The fundamental goal of the PWSS Program, and the grants, is to ensure that public water systems comply with the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations listed in 40 CFR 141. State drinking water agencies, which have Primary Enforcement Responsibility for the PWSS Program, and Indian Tribes that receive PWSS grants are to use them to ensure that public drinking water systems, of all types, and of all sizes: (1) are currently in compliance with the drinking water regulations and remain in compliance, (2) are working towards and in the process of achieving compliance when these systems are noncompliant, and (3) are preparing for future compliance with any new drinking water regulations that will be taking effect in the current or following year. Furthermore, State drinking water agencies, which have Primary Enforcement Responsibility for the PWSS Program, and Indian Tribes that receive PWSS grants are required to use the funds to update and maintain its PWSS program to comply with the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations Implementation requirements listed in 40 CFR 142 to ensure that the State or Tribal PWSS program is capable of conducting oversight of all public water systems as new drinking water rules, new public water systems, and/or drinking water program requirements become effective.

Eligibility is limited to the governments of the fifty States; the District of Columbia; the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; the Northern Mariana Islands; the Virgin Islands; Guam; American Samoa; and federally recognized Tribes, that have either assumed primary enforcement responsibility for the PWSS Program or that want to develop a program that will allow them to seek delegation for a PWSS Program. EPA may also use funds allotted for a State or Tribal program, if the State or Tribe does not have, or is not developing, primary enforcement responsibility, or EPA may use all or part of the funds to support the PWSS Program in absence of an acceptable State program. Eligibility is also limited to a single agency within each State, Territory, or Tribe - an agency that has been designated by the jurisdiction's Governor or Chief Executive Officer. Primary Enforcement Responsibility for the Public Water System Supervision Program is provided for in 40 CFR 142 (https://ecfr.federalregister.gov/current/title-40/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-142?toc=1).

The beneficiaries are the agencies within the fifty States; the District of Columbia; the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; the Northern Mariana Islands; the Virgin Islands; Guam; American Samoa; and federally recognized Tribes, that have been designated by the jurisdiction's Governor or Chief Executive Officer as being responsible for the supervision of water supplies within the State, Territory, or Tribe.

The grant application and Program Plan are reviewed by the appropriate EPA Regional Office, and if approved, are signed by the Regional Administrator, who then awards the funds to the recipient.

Generally 60 days.