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Public Water
System Supervision (PWSS)
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To help States implement drinking water programs to protect public health, Congress annually provides funds for grants to support state programs. These grants are used by State drinking water programs to:
The grants may be used to provide up to 75% of the state program's costs. Funds are distributed based on an allotment formula that considers each of the following:
The amount of funding available in FY2004 is $101,994,700. Beginning in FY1976 EPA has received an appropriation under section 1443(a) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to assist states, territories, and tribes in carrying out their Public Water System Supervision programs. The funds are to be used to develop and implement a PWSS program adequate to enforce the requirements of the SDWA and ensure that water systems comply with the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations listed in 40 CRF 141. Designated state agencies in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or an individual Indian tribe treated as a state, that have been delegated Primary Enforcement Responsibility for the Public Water System Supervision Program are eligible to receive grants. Currently, all states and territories have been delegated authority, with the exception of Wyoming and the District of Columbia (neither of which has sought delegation). The Navajo Nation is the only Indian tribe to have sought and received program authority. Funds appropriated each year are allotted, by formula, on the basis of state population (20%) as contained in the most currently available statistics from the US Census Bureau; state land area (10%) as contained in the most currently available Statistical Abstract; the number of community and non-transient non-community water systems in the state (56%) and the number of transient non-community water systems in the state (14%); all water system inventories being provided by the states to EPA's Federal database SDWIS/FED. No state except American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands may be allotted less than 1 percent of the FY 89 appropriation and no entity’s allotment shall be less than 95 percent of its prior year allotment. Up to seven percent of the national total available grant funds are set-aside for Indian land activities in accordance with EPA Grant Regulations (40CFR35.673). The formula factors of population and land area are statutory (SDWA §1443(a)). The other factors, and all of the weightings, are Agency imposed. Federal assistance is limited to 75 percent of eligible costs, not to exceed the state allotment. A total of $101,994,700 is available for FY2004. This amount is based on an appropriation of $102,600,000 and the “across-the-board” recission of 0.59%. $6,564,600 (6.44%) is being used to support PWSS program activities on tribal lands; $95,430,100 is being allotted to states and territories. The allotments range from $124,200 for Guam to $6,198,300 for California. A complete list of the formula allotments is provided below.
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