Summary: The Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 sought to address many long-standing problems impeding the nation's primary drinking water protection program. The amendments (1) required that new contaminant limitations be based on the risk to human health and on sound science and that the cost of compliance be taken into account, (2) placed greater emphasis on pollution prevention by requiring that all sources of drinking water for public water systems be assessed for their susceptibility to contamination, (3) added requirements to help ensure that customers are fully informed about the quality of their drinking water, (4) addressed problems associated with thousands of "nonviable" small water systems that have often had difficulty ensuring the safety of their water, (5) established a program to help water systems finance infrastructure improvements, and (6) authorized additional resources to help the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the states implement the drinking water program. This report provides information on each of these key changes. GAO discusses the status of efforts and progress made by EPA and the states to address them and the future challenges facing EPA and the states in their efforts to do so.
