The National Interim Primary Drinking Water Regulations established drinking water quality standards and water testing requirements to ensure the quality of drinking water provided by the nation's public water systems. However, compliance with these regulations by the nation's public water systems seems minimal at best. GAO reviewed the Safe Drinking Water Program to determine how effectively the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and primacy states, those granted authority by the EPA Administrator to operate the program, have implemented the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act. GAO found that: (1) many small community public water system supplies are not meeting the drinking water quality standards and are not being tested as required by federal regulations; and (2) as defined in the act, the effectiveness of the public notification process in informing drinking water users of violations is questionable. GAO believes that a combination of factors including the lack of full-time and properly trained operators, water system operator apathy, failure of states to perform water sampling activities, and insufficient state resources are the primary factors causing the water quality standards problems. GAO also found that the enforcement actions in the three EPA regional offices and the seven states included in its review to bring water systems into compliance ranged from none to minimal, followed no particular pattern, and were not as timely as they should have been. EPA has recently initiated several measures to deal with the mounting noncompliance problem, and GAO believes that the current action is a step in the right direction. If properly carried forward, this effort should result in actions designed to improve the water quality program.

The National Interim Primary Drinking Water Regulations established drinking water quality standards and water testing requirements to ensure the quality of drinking water provided by the nation's public water systems. However, compliance with these regulations by the nation's public water systems seems minimal at best. GAO reviewed the Safe Drinking Water Program to determine how effectively the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and primacy states, those granted authority by the EPA Administrator to operate the program, have implemented the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act. GAO found that: (1) many small community public water system supplies are not meeting the drinking water quality standards and are not being tested as required by federal regulations; and (2) as defined in the act, the effectiveness of the public notification process in informing drinking water users of violations is questionable. GAO believes that a combination of factors including the lack of full-time and properly trained operators, water system operator apathy, failure of states to perform water sampling activities, and insufficient state resources are the primary factors causing the water quality standards problems. GAO also found that the enforcement actions in the three EPA regional offices and the seven states included in its review to bring water systems into compliance ranged from none to minimal, followed no particular pattern, and were not as timely as they should have been. EPA has recently initiated several measures to deal with the mounting noncompliance problem, and GAO believes that the current action is a step in the right direction. If properly carried forward, this effort should result in actions designed to improve the water quality program.