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EPA/OW RIN: 2040-AF96 Publication ID: Fall 2022 
Title: Water System Restructuring Assessment Rule 
Abstract: This rulemaking is mandated under the America's Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA), which became law on October 23, 2018. The AWIA, Section 2010(a), requires EPA to promulgate a regulation that authorizes State primary enforcement authorities (primacy agencies) to mandate an assessment of restructuring options for a public water system (PWS) that frequently violates health-based standards, is unwilling or unable to take feasible corrective actions to return to compliance, or that has unsuccessfully attempted feasible and affordable actions to return to compliance, and for which restructuring is both feasible and expected to result in greater compliance. The mandatory assessment requirements must be tailored to the water system's size, type, and other factors, and the assessment should not be overly burdensome on the assessed system. A PWS that completes a mandatory assessment is eligible for DWSRF funding to implement the restructuring activities identified in the assessment. The rulemaking will include provisions regarding enforcement relief for a noncompliant PWS that implements a state-approved restructuring plan, or liability protection for a 'non-responsible' PWS that, based on a completed, primacy-agency-approved restructuring assessment and restructuring plan, consolidates with, or acquires ownership of, an assessed PWS. The AWIA, Section 2009(a), also revises the definition of a restructuring plan under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), subsection 1414(h)(1), to include a contract for significant managerial or administrative functions of a PWS. 
Agency: Environmental Protection Agency(EPA)  Priority: Substantive, Nonsignificant 
RIN Status: Previously published in the Unified Agenda Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Proposed Rule Stage 
Major: No  Unfunded Mandates: No 
CFR Citation: TBD     (To search for a specific CFR, visit the Code of Federal Regulations.)
Legal Authority: 42 U.S.C. 300g-3(h)(6)   
Legal Deadline:
Action Source Description Date
Final  Statutory  The AWIA, section 2010, mandates that the EPA promulgate a regulation, per the SDWA, section 1414(h)(6), two years from date of enactment of the AWIA on October 23, 2018.  10/23/2020 
Timetable:
Action Date FR Cite
NPRM  12/00/2022 
Final Rule  05/00/2024 
Additional Information: .
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: Undetermined  Government Levels Affected: Federal, Local, State, Tribal 
Federalism: Undetermined 
Included in the Regulatory Plan: No 
RIN Data Printed in the FR: No 
Agency Contact:
Will Bowman
Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Mail Code 4606M, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20460
Phone:202 564-3782
Email: bowman.will@epa.gov