The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will gather feedback on the new drinking water strategy in-person and online. It will present an overview of the Agency’s new Drinking Water Strategy at listening sessions on August 19 to obtain feedback from the public and stakeholders on possible approaches to implementing the strategy.
The California and Nevada section of American Water Works Association, in coordination with EPA Region 9, will sponsor the listening session from 10 am to noon PST in Cucamonga, CA.
These meetings will conclude a series of four listening sessions on the specific proposal of addressing contaminants as group(s). EPA will consider feedback, ideas, and perspectives from the public and stakeholders presented at the listening sessions as we develop the agenda for the upcoming Drinking Water Strategy stakeholder meeting and the framework for addressing contaminants as group(s).
Information on the exact locations of the listening sessions can be found here [1].
This week, EPA is also launching a web-based discussion forum to gather public input on how the agency can improve protection of drinking water. The information will be used in implementing EPA’s new drinking water strategy announced by Administrator Lisa P. Jackson in March.
“We look forward to reviewing the ideas and feedback from the public,” said Peter S. Silva, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Water. “This online discussion is for anyone who wants to share their input on protecting drinking water and improving public health.”
EPA seeks input from water professionals, advocates, and anyone interested in drinking water quality issues about best solutions for issues facing our nation’s drinking water—planning, developing scientific tools, controlling water pollution and use of resources.
The discussion forum will feature a series of topics based on the four segments of the drinking water strategy: addressing contaminants as groups rather than one at a time, fostering development of new technologies, using the existing authority of several statues to protect drinking water, and partnering with states to share more complete data.
The forum will be open for discussion for about a month, with each topic area being discussed separately. Addressing contaminants as groups will also be discussed separately at a web-based meeting at the end of July.