02/24/2026 at 10:15AM
The Subcommittee on Environment will hold a hearing on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 10:15 a.m. (ET) in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled, “From Source to Tap: A Hearing to Examine Challenges and Opportunities for Safe, Reliable, and Affordable Drinking Water.”
Witnesses:
- Eric Hill, General Manager, Russellville Water & Sewer Board, Russellville, Ala., on behalf of the National Rural Water Association;
- Nicole Murley, Deputy Inspector General performing the duties of the Inspector General, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency;
- Lindsey Rechtin, CPA, President & CEO, Northern Kentucky Water District, on behalf of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies
- Erik Olson, Senior Strategic Director for Health & Food, Natural Resources Defense Council
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), signed into law on December 16, 1974, by President Ford, is the main federal law regulating drinking water and protecting drinking water sources. The law directs the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish national primary drinking water regulations to protect public health and to administer federal funding mechanisms for drinking water infrastructure. This authority includes regulating contaminants that pose health risks in public water systems and establishing the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF).
The SDWA applies to Public Water Systems (PWS), defined as systems that provide water for human consumption to the public through pipes or other constructed conveyances. A system qualifies as a PWS if it has at least 15 service connections or regularly serves at least 25 individuals. Systems below this threshold, including individual private drinking water wells, are not covered by the SDWA and instead are regulated at the state and local level. Today there are approximately 150,000 public water systems nationwide that provide drinking water service to a vast majority of the U.S. According to the EPA’s Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment, public water systems nationwide face substantial challenges in replacing aging pipes, modernizing treatment facilities, improving storage, and enhancing system resilience.
The recent Potomac Interceptor sewage spill has underscored the broader deterioration of aging water and wastewater infrastructure nationwide. The incident resulted in the release of hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated sewage into the Potomac River, a primary source of drinking water for communities across Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland. This sewer break raises concerns about downstream contamination and how untreated sewage can impact sources for drinking water.