Safe Drinking Water Act's 40th Anniversary and Recognition of the Challenges Ahead

摘要

Originally enacted into law in 1974 by President Gerald Ford, the US EPA's Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) recently hit the 40th anniversary mark. The SDWA was promulgated only four years after President Richard Nixon formed the US EPA and initiated the Water Quality Improvement Act, focused primarily on water pollution restrictions and oil discharge. Prompted by numerous media reports of foul odor, disease-causing microbes and cancer-causing chemicals in drinking water supplies, the SDWA added regulatory context, order and accountability to the treatment of municipal water.