Certifying Risk and Resilience Assessments
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted a 10 minute video on how to certify preparation of the Risk and Resilience Assessments and Emergency Response Plans required under the America’s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA). Link to video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=570&v=_sED8MCVTgo&feature=emb_logo
Training for Preparation of Risk and Resilience Assessments and Emergency Response Plans
EPA is hosting eight one-day training sessions across the country focusing on community water systems serving population sizes 50,000-99,999 (training sessions can be attended in-person or via webcast; training sessions are scheduled in March, April and May 2020). The training sessions are open to water systems serving any size population. Link below is to EPA page to register (to attend in-person or via the webcast).
BACKGROUND
AWIA
The AWIA was signed into law in October 2018. The AWIA included a requirement that community water systems serving a population greater than 3,300 update their Vulnerability Assessments (VA) prepared under the 2002 “Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act.” Under the AWIA the updated VAs are referred to as Risk and Resilience Assessments. Community water systems are also required to update their Emergency Response Plans (ERP).
Upcoming Deadline. Community water systems serving a population greater than or equal to 100,000 must certify to EPA by March 31, 2020 that they prepared the Risk and Resilience Assessment. Six months after that (September 30, 2020), those systems must certify to EPA that they prepared an updated ERP.
Deadlines for other sized systems:
- 50,000 to 99,999 population: Risk and Resilience Assessment certification due December 31, 2020, updated ERP certification due June 30, 2021.
- 3,301 to 49,999 population: Risk and Resilience Assessment certification due June 30, 2021, updated ERP certification due December 31, 2021.
