SDWA CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT

The capacity development provisions of the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Ac t offer a flexible framework within which states and water systems can work together to ensure that systems acquire and maintain the technic al, financial, and managerial capacity needed to consistently achieve the public health protection objectives of the act. Capacity developme nt is related to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) in tw o important ways: states may set aside funds from their DWSRF allotmen ts to develop and implement capacity development programs, and the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is required to withhold DWSRF funds from states that fail to implement the capacity development prov isions. USEPA's implementation of the capacity development provisions is being guided by an unprecedented process of stakeholder consultatio n and involvement.