United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
EPA812-F-94-003
' September 1994
&EPA
Fact Sheet
1995 SRF Needs Survey
For Drinking Water
1995 SRF
NEEDS SURVEY
FOR DRINKING WATER
on Recycled Paper
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is preparing to launch Its first nation-
wide survey of drinking water systems' infrastructure investment needs. EPA wants to
know how much money drinking water systems nationwide will have to invest in order to
comply with current and future federal regulations, replace aging infrastructure, and
consolidate with or acquire neighboring systems. Data gathering is expected to begin in
November 1994 and end in August 1995. The results will be made public in a Report to
Congress slated for release in February 1996. The survey results will be used to allocate
State Revolving Fund (SRF) monies to the States. The States will lend the funds to
drinking water systems that are making improvements to their infrastructure.
Why Is EPA Conducting This Survey?
Congress is expected to reauthorize the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) later this year.
The reauthorized SDWA is likely to contain provisions for an SRF, which will be adminis-
tered by EPA and the States. The SRF will provide a pool of money for each State to lend,
at low interest, for improvements to drinking water systems. State SRF allocations will be
based on the survey's results so that allocations to States will be in proportion to the
infrastructure investment needs of their drinking water systems.
How Much Money Will Be Available?
Congress already has appropriated $599 million for SRFs in FY 1994. It plans to appropri-
ate $700 million in FY 1995 and up to $1.0 billion annually from FY 1996 to FY 2000.
EPA expects the 1995 SRF Needs Survey results will be used to allocate funds beginning
in FY 1997. Money will be distributed based on number of water systems and service
population in 1994 - 1996.
How Will The Survey Be Conducted?
The Agency will send survey questionnaires to each of the nation's approximately 700
large systems (serving 50,000+ persons) and to some 2,200 randomly selected medium-
sized systems (serving 3.301 to 50,000 persons). EPA plans half-day visits to approxi-
mately 600 randomly selected small drinking water systems (serving 25 to 3,300 persons
each) nationwide to gather data. Systems on Indian lands and systems that serve Alaskan
Native Villages also will be included in the project.
Will The States Participate In The Survey?
Yes. The drinking water programs of every State in the nation have agreed to participate.
EPA is asking them to provide technical support to systems filling out survey question-
naires. State personnel will be invited to participate in site visits to gather survey informa-
tion directly from small drinking water systems.
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What Information Will The Survey Collect?
Systems will be asked to summarize their current capital improvement needs and their
projected capital investment requirements through calendar year 2015. These summaries
will include all costs related to compliance with the SDWA. This includes the costs of
source maintenance or creation, treatment, storage, transmission, and distributioa
How Will EPA Use The Survey Information?
EPA will analyze the data collected from more than 3,000 drinking water systems across
the country to generate nationwide estimates of drinking water investment needs.. These
estimates, in turn, will be used to apportion SRF funds among the States beginning in FY
1997.
What Is The Survey Schedule?
EPA plans to gather survey data between November 1994 and August 1995. The Agency
will publish the survey data and its analysis of the data in a Report to Congress in February
1996.
How Can I Get More Information About The Survey?
For more information about EPA's 1995 SRF Needs Survey, you can call the Survey Help
Line at 1-(800) 95-NEEDS [1-(800) 956-3337] or contact:
Clive Da vies. Survey Manager
Mail Code: 4604
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
401 M Street S.W.
Washington. DC 20460
You can also
contact the
nearest regional
EPA office as
Listed here
1995 SRF Needs Survey Contacts
Name
CUve Davies
Jerry Heatoy
Rick Narang
Don Niehus
David Parker
Kns Werbach
Mark McCasland
Kelly Beard-Tmone
Dal* Murphy
Jose T. Caratini
Gerald Opatz
EPA Office
Headquarters
Region 1
Region 2
Region 3
Region 4
Region 5
Region 6
Region?
Region 8
Region 9
Region 10
Location
Washington, DC
Boston. MA
New York. NY
Philadelphia. PA
Atlanta, GA
Chicago, IL
Dallas, TX
Kansas City, KS
Denver, CO
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA
Phone
202260-1421
617565-3610
212264-7675
215597-2852
404347-2913
312886-6527
214665-8088
913551-7217
303293-1410
415744-1852
206 553-4039
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