Addressing Natural Hazards in Risk and Resilience Assessments and Emergency Response Plans

United States

Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) section 1433, revised by America's Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) section 2013, requires community water systems (CWS) serving over 3,300 people to prepare (or revise) and certify risk and resilience assessments (RRAs) and emergency response plans (ERPs) to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) every five years. Recertification deadlines are occurring throughout 2025 and 2026.

CWSs that serve less than 3,301 people, non-CWSs, wastewater utilities, and stormwater utilities are not required to certify completion of an RRA or ERP to EPA. However, as natural disasters and malevolent acts also affect these utilities, EPA encourages them to develop RRAs and ERPs to plan for potential disruptions.

This webinar will focus on natural hazards, highlighting useful data sources and free technical assistance from EPA’s Strengthening Water Infrastructure for Tomorrow (SWIFT) initiative to help drinking water utilities, wastewater utilities, and stormwater utilities address natural hazards in their RRAs and ERPs.