EPA has released a new report entitled, “Inventory of Sites with the Potential to Release Contaminants to Sources of Drinking Water.” The purpose of the report is to assist drinking water systems in conducting a source water contamination threat inventory (SWCTI). A SWCTI is an actionable and detailed assessment of potential sources of contamination that can be an important element of a Source Water Assessment or a Risk and Resilience Assessment, which are required to be updated every five years under America’s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA).
The report presents the methodology and findings from a SWCTI across ten states, evaluating the accessibility and usefulness of a wide range of state and federal databases. EPA’s analysis determined that the most complete and useful data source for conducting an SWCTI is Tier II chemical inventory data collected under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). This chemical inventory data is now available to community water systems due to provisions in the 2018, America’s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA). The report recommends that public water systems to take advantage of state and federal data resources, including Tier II chemical inventory data, to develop a SWCTI for their unique source water area and to better prepare for potential releases to sources of drinking water.
For more information and to read the report, visit EPA’s website. Note that this report is a companion to the 2021 report: Occurrence of Releases with the Potential to Impact Sources of Drinking Water.