August 13, 2021 Request for Certification of Need

EPA published a Federal Register Notice (FRN) for ten utilities that applied for a Certification of Need under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Section 1441 authorities. The FRN was published on August 13, 2021 with a 14-day comment period. EPA received comments from the submitting utilities, suppliers, repackagers, and the California Department of Drinking Water. All comments were considered in the final decision.

On September 21, 2021, EPA informed the nine water and wastewater applicants listed in the August 13, 2021 FRN that Certifications of Need would not be issued under SDWA Section 1441. While all of the applicants had appropriate and/or national challenges at the time of their submissions, EPA was able to effectively coordinate with the water/wastewater systems and the chemical suppliers in identifying immediate solutions to make the Certifications of Need no longer necessary. While the FRN published on August 13, 2021 included ten water systems, the decision only references nine systems because one of the water systems withdrew their application after the FRN was published. This system was able to secure a contract with an alternate supplier.