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The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001,caused a sea change in the sense ofsafety and protection that most Americansfelt regarding the threat of externallyimposed harm. This article, which isJOURNAL AWWA's annual review of the USEnvironmental Protection Agency's (USEPA's)drinking water regulatory agenda under theSafe Drinking Water Act, has been expandedto include emergency planning that incorporatesresponses to both natural disasters andthe deliberate introduction of contaminantsinto a water supply.Although information is generally limitedon safe levels in drinking water for chemicaland biological weapons of mass destruction(WMDs), the introduction of an exotic contaminantinto a drinking water supply as aWMD is very difficult. Thus, it is generallynot considered to be a likely threat. A morelikely threat would probably come fromcontamination by a currently regulatedchemical or microorganism or a commonunregulated chemical or microorganism,contaminants that a water treatment systemwould not be designed to remove or inactivatebecause the agent would normally notbe expected to occur.As the rulemaking process moved forwardduring 2001, the final filter backwashrecycle rule was issued in June, and a reviewof the final arsenic rule previously issued inJanuary 2001 resulted in a USEPAannouncement Oct. 31, 2001, that theagency simply intended to let the January2001 rule go into effect. In the area ofmicrobial/disinfection byproduct (M/DBP)rules, formal proposed rules for the Stage 2DBPR and Long-term Stage 2 EnhancedSurface Water Treatment Rule are expectedin November 2002, and a final rule isexpected in November 2003. Although severalstatutory deadlines were missed in2001, final action is expected on severalmajor rules in 2002, including the radonrule and the Ground Water Rule. The articleand the accompanying tables also update thescope, status, and schedules of numerousother key regulations under developmentby USEPA. Includes 64 references, tables.

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Edition: Vol. 94 - No. 3 Published: 03/01/2002 Number of Pages: 13 File Size: 1 file , 460 KB