America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (AWIA) Deadlines

America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (AWIA) amends the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and includes new resilience requirements for drinking water utilities. 

AWIA applies to a subset of community water systems (CWS), which are drinking water utilities that consistently serve at least 25 people or 15 service connections year-round.

Section 2013 of AWIA requires CWS's serving populations more than 3,300 to conduct and certify completion of a Risk and Resilience Assessment and Emergency Response Plan (ERP) to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA).  

Emergency Response Plan:

Utilities should be prepared for several types of emergencies, including natural hazards and man-made (such as cyber attacks) threats. Utilities should develop their ERPs based on the vulnerabilities identified in their Risk and Resilience Assessments.

Required core elements of an ERP include:

• Strategies and resources to improve resilience, including physical security and cybersecurity
• Plans and procedures for responding to a malevolent act or natural hazard that threatens safe drinking water
• Actions, procedures and equipment to lessen the impact of a malevolent act or natural hazard, including alternative water sources, relocating intakes and flood protection barriers
• Strategies to detect malevolent acts or natural hazards that threaten the systems

Risk and Resilience Assessment:

Risk and Resilience Assessments allow utilities to identify their vulnerabilities to man-made and natural hazards and evaluate potential improvements to enhance security and resilience. AWIA Section 2013 requires that Risk and Resilience Assessments consider:

• Natural hazards and malevolent acts
• Monitoring practices
• Financial systems (e.g. billing systems)
• Chemical storage and handling
• Operation and maintenance
• Resilience of water facility infrastructure and resources

The assessment may also include an evaluation of capital and operational needs for risk and resilience management of the system.