How does EPA currently determine if variances should be made available for states to grant to small systems?
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requires EPA to identify affordable compliance treatment technologies for small systems for each new drinking water standard. EPA must evaluate treatment technologies and their costs for three categories of small systems; systems serving 25 to 500 people, systems serving 501 to 3,300 people and systems serving 3,301 to 10,000 people. If EPA cannot identify affordable compliance technologies for some or all of the systems in these categories, EPA must identify variance treatment technologies that achieve the maximum reduction affordable, and determine if the variance technologies are protective of public health.
