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SAFE DRINKING WATER INFORMATION SYSTEM/FEDERAL COMPONENT
Description:
Resource Purpose:The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) gives EPA the authority to regulate public drinking water supplies. Using its authority under law, EPA has set health-based standards for contaminants that may be found in drinking water. EPA regulates over 80 contaminants in drinking water to ensure that all water supplied by public water systems in the United States meets minimum health-based standards to guarantee safety and public health. EPA works with states, which oversee public water systems within their jurisdictions, to make sure the systems are in compliance with EPA standards. States report information quarterly to EPA on whether any public water systems have violated these standards. This information is collected and stored in SDWIS/FED, and used to: (1) help EPA monitor the safety of the nation's drinking water supply and assist in understanding the status of drinking water rule implementation, (2) collect information on additional contaminants that may some day be regulated, (3) report information to the public and to Congress on the status of public drinking water, and (4) help EPA and states determine when additional actions are necessary to protect drinking water.
Legislation/Enabling Authority:Safe Drinking Water Act
Supported Program:Public Water System Supervision (PWSS)
Data Type:
Did not mark primary
Facility
Monitoring
Compliance
Regulatory
Geographical Data Stored By:
Latitude - Longitude
Data Represented By:
Points
Measurement Methods:
Each coordinate is characterized by its scale, as specified in EPA's Locational Data Policy
System Access Privileges:
Access Methods:
Direct
Update Methods:
FTP
Other
Other Methods:
Data Update
Resources Accessible By:
Public
States
Regions
DataSubs
All EPA
EPA Branch
EPA Division
EPA Authorized
Resources Updatable By:
States
Regions
DataSubs
Public has limited access. Regions have limited rights to update.
CBI Security:
The database contains enforcement sensitive information. Users must first have access to the EPA mainframe computer. Only a set of users, based upon their mainframe user ID's, are allowed access to the sensitive data. Staff at OECA identify the persons with this access. In general, regional EPA Data Management and Enforcement are provided access. The database also contains lat/long data on sourcewater intakes which are not CBO or FOIA exempt but are sensitive from a national security standpoint. For these data, requestors must complete a supplemental form indicating their justification for receiving the information (any justification will do) and reminding them of the sensitivity of the information. Once they complete and return the form, the data are provided to them.
Data Collection:Typically there is a one-quarter lag in the data reported to SDWIS/FED. For example, data collected between October 1 and December 31 are to be reported to SDWIS/FED by March 1. Primary agencies (all states except Wyoming, and all states with tribal land) must report data representing the 10/1 to 12/31 time period to EPA by 3/1. During the 1/1 to 3/1 time frame, these agencies are completing data collection, validation, transmission and updating the SDWIS/FED database. The reporting period for this time frame closes 4/1.
Range of Data Start:
19800101
Range of Data End:
20000331
Range of Data:
Data is stored from 1980 to the present, however there are considerable concerns about the quality of data prior to 1990.