DEEP DIVE: U.S. EPA Final Rule Aims to Make Water Quality Reports More Accessible

Summary

A new final rule from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) aims to make drinking water reports easier to read and more widely accessible. It also obliges U.S. water systems to support translations in multiple languages and encourages electronic methods.

“EPA is taking action to help ensure that the American public has improved access to information about the drinking water in their communities by strengthening requirements for annual drinking water quality reports,” said Bruno Pigott, acting assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Water. “[The final rule] will ensure these reports are easier to understand, and easier to access in additional languages to provide all people with the information they want and need about their water.”

Review

The compliance date for the new rule will be 1 January 2027. This means that reports delivered in 2027, which summarize data collected in 2026, or earlier, will reflect this final rule.

U.S. water systems serving a population larger than 10,000 people must provide a consumer confidence report (CCR) twice per year. The deadline for the first report remains 1 July 2027, and the second must be delivered by the end of that year.

The new rule also provides increased requirements for translation and accessibility of the CCR for those with limited English proficiency.

The CCR will now require a summary section containing specific key elements, including information about any violations and regulatory compliance.

Primacy agencies are required to provide all compliance data annually to the EPA. This includes all compliance monitoring and related monitoring data for national primary drinking water standards. States have three years before the first submission is due.

Analysis

While the reporting requirements are still more than two years away, water quality experts and industry leaders urge community water systems to take the appropriate steps to transition to compliance with the new regulations.

“All U.S. community water systems are impacted by the revised CCR Rule,” said Adam Carpenter, energy and environmental policy manager at American Water Works Association (AWWA). “We encourage them to begin planning now for these changes and to collaborate with their primacy agency on how to implement them well in advance of the 2027 deadline.”

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