U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
                   Office of Inspector General

                   At  a   Glance
                                                           08-P-0266
                                                    September 16, 2008
                                                                Catalyst for Improving the Environment
Why We Did This Review

We conducted this evaluation
to assess the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA's) oversight
and assistance of tribal
community water systems
(CWSs), and to independently
evaluate water quality at
selected drinking water
systems.
Background
EPA, rather than the States,
has the responsibility for
protecting human health and
the environment on tribal
lands. Approximately 600
tribal CWSs serve an
estimated 622,000 people.
EPA staff members provide
these systems with technical
and other assistance so that
tribal CWSs maintain
compliance with Safe
Drinking Water Act
requirements.

For further information,
contact our Office of
Congressional and Public
Liaison at (202) 566-2391.

To view the full report,
click on the following link:
www.epa.qov/oiq/reports/2008/
20080916-08-P-0266.pdf
EPA Assisting Tribal Water Systems
but Needs to Improve Oversight
 What We Found
Tribal drinking water sample results in EPA files indicate that drinking water
supplies consistently met regulatory requirements.  Regional EPA staff also made
correct compliance decisions with sample results that tribal CWSs provided.
However, internal control deficiencies existed in administering EPA's oversight
of tribal CWSs in two of the five regions we reviewed. To varying degrees, tribal
drinking water records in four of the five regions were incomplete due to a failure
to maintain oversight of system operations and/or poor records management.

We sought to verify, through independently collected samples, that these tribal
CWSs did not exceed drinking water regulatory limits. Of the approximately
2,300 independent samples analyzed, only 7 were above the limits. In those
cases, we informed regional staff and water system operators, who then took
follow-up actions.
 What We Recommend
We recommend that the Assistant Administrator for Water (1) establish national
and regional tribal drinking water program Standard Operating Procedures in
coordination with regional offices; (2) require Region 2 to submit a plan that
corrects deficiencies in how it currently implements its tribal drinking water
program, including those identified in this report; and (3) direct regions to issue
monitoring and reporting violations, take appropriate enforcement actions against
tribal CWSs with health-based violations or who fail to  monitor or submit
monitoring reports, and enter violations into the Safe  Drinking Water Information
System.

The Agency agreed with our recommendations.

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