THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT AT 50

The report argues that the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) has transitioned from an 'outstanding' to an 'outdated' framework due to 1996 amendments that slowed the regulation of new contaminants and a chronic lack of federal infrastructure funding. It highlights critical failures in monitoring and sampling protocols, which allow water systems to use infrequent or misleading tests, and criticizes the lack of transparency in Consumer Confidence Reports. The document emphasizes that low-income, Black, and Indigenous communities disproportionately suffer from these weaknesses. A case study of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in O‘ahu illustrates how the SDWA failed to detect and report jet fuel and PFAS contamination. Earthjustice calls for a modernized SDWA with streamlined chemical regulation, advanced monitoring technology, and at least $20 billion in annual federal funding.

• The 1996 amendments to the SDWA significantly hindered the EPA's ability to regulate new contaminants. Between 1975 and 1996, the EPA regulated approximately 100 chemicals, but between 1996 and 2024, it only decided to promulgate standards for six PFAS, despite considering 184 individual chemicals under the contaminant candidate list (CCL).
• Current monitoring and sampling protocols are outdated and allow for infrequent testing that may not reflect actual water quality. Some systems are legally permitted to sample regulated contaminants like arsenic or benzene as infrequently as once every three years, and some utilities manipulate sampling to produce misleading results.
• There is a significant lack of transparency and accuracy in water quality reporting. Consumer Confidence Reports (CCRs) have historically included misleading statements claiming water is safe despite the presence of bacteria, lead, and cyanide, and the EPA's 2024 update failed to prohibit such misleading language.
• Water infrastructure is suffering from a decades-long collapse in federal funding, leading to aging systems that lose six billion gallons of water daily and increase public health risks, including lead contamination.
• Environmental injustices are prevalent in water safety, with Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous communities disproportionately affected. Indigenous people are over 15 times more likely to lack running water and sanitation than white people, and at least 77 million Americans are served by systems violating health-based SDWA standards.
• A case study of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in O‘ahu demonstrates the SDWA's failure to protect groundwater and distribution systems from novel contaminants. A spill of nearly 20,000 gallons of jet fuel and PFAS went undetected for days because the law only requires monitoring for expected contaminants.
• Enforcement of the SDWA is severely hampered by poor data transfer and reporting. An EPA audit revealed that 92 percent of lead violations recorded in state files were not reported to the federal agency.

APA

Earthjustice (n.d.). THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT AT 50. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/the-safe-drinking-water-act-needs-urgent-reform-1.pdf

Chicago

Earthjustice. THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT AT 50. n.d. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/the-safe-drinking-water-act-needs-urgent-reform-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT AT 50 |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/the-safe-drinking-water-act-needs-urgent-reform-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjusticendsafe, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT AT 50}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/the-safe-drinking-water-act-needs-urgent-reform-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }