vvEPA
FACT SHEET
Proposed Consumer Confidence Report Rule Revisions
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to revise the Consumer Confidence Reports Rule
(CCR Rule) to improve the reports delivered to people served by community water systems. The Rule is the
centerpiece of public right-to-know for the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) because the reports, also known as
"Annual Drinking Water Quality Reports/' provide valuable information about local drinking water quality to
customers of community water systems.
To learn more visit: htips://www.epa.gov/ccr/consumer-con fidence-report-rule-revisions
What are Consumer Confidence Reports?
A CCR, sometimes called an "Annual Drinking Water Quality Report" summarizes information about the local
drinking water, including the source of water, a summary of monitoring results of detected contaminants, a
description of any violations, and explanations of additional health information. Water systems must either
deliver a physical copy of the CCR or deliver a notification that the CCR is available to all bill-paying customers,
by mail or by electronic delivery. In addition, water systems must make a "good faith" effort to reach non-bill
paying consumers.
Why is the CCR Rule Changing?
As part of the America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (AWIA), Congress instructed EPA to revise the CCR
Rule. The proposed revisions support the goal of the SDWA "right-to-know" provisions by improving the CCRs so
that people can make better decisions about their drinking water.
What Will the Revised CCR Rule Change?
The proposal, if finalized, focuses on making the following changes:
Improving Readability, Understandability, and Clarity
• A summary at the beginning of the report would highlight important information, such as the presence
of water quality violations or an action level exceedance.
• CCRs would need to include appropriate contact information for consumers to request translation
assistance.
• People with limited English proficiency that need translation support would be able to contact their
system or state. Large systems (serving 100,000 or more) would need to develop plans on how they
intend to provide meaningful access to community members.
• For consumers that may need accessibility accommodations to the CCR, systems would need to make a
reasonable attempt to address the request.
• Information about detections would be presented in a consumer-friendly format tailored to their local
needs.
• Reports would include new definitions for certain terms (e.g., pesticide, herbicide, and corrosion control
efforts).
Improving Accuracy of Information and Risk Communication
• Reports would need to include additional information efforts their water system is taking to prevent
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lead from entering your drinking water.
• If a water system detected lead concentrations above a specific level, the report would need to explain
what actions the water system has or will take to address the action level exceedance and their
timeframe for taking those actions.
• Water systems would be prohibited from including false or misleading statements in their CCRs.
• Reports would include updated language, including specific statements on nitrate and arsenic.
Increasing Frequency of Delivery and Updating Delivery Methods
• As required by SDWA, water systems serving 10,000 people or more, would need to provide a CCR twice
each year.
o Report #1: As in the current rule, water systems would deliver the first report by July 1st;
summarizing information about the quality of drinking water for January through December of the
previous year.
o Report #2: The revised rule would require water systems to provide the second report by December
31st. It would be identical to the first report unless the water system has violations of National
Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWRs), or detects of lead concentrations above a specific
level, in which case it would include an update with this new information.
• Community water systems serving less than 10,000 people would continue to provide CCRs once per year.
• Consumers would benefit from expanded options that water systems would have on how to provide a "good
faith" delivery of CCR to consumers that do not receive water bills. For example, options will be expanded to
include advertising the availability of reports on social media and sending alert text messages to interested
consumers.
• CCRs provided on publicly available websites would remain accessible for at least three years.
Collecting Compliance Monitoring Data (CMD) From Primacy Agencies
States, territories, and tribes that have primacy for the Public Water System Supervision program ("primacy
agencies") are currently required by regulation to regularly collect monitoring data from water systems that
helps them determine if water systems comply with NPDWRs. These data are known as compliance monitoring
data (CMD).
Currently, these primacy agencies must report only limited data to EPA, including general water system
inventory (e.g., type of water treatment and size of the water system), water system violations, and other
actions. To improve EPA's ability to oversee the states' implementation of the SDWA and provide the public with
more complete and accurate information on compliance, EPA is proposing in the rule that primacy agencies
annually report all CMD they collect from water systems to EPA.
When Will States and Water Systems Need to Comply?
If finalized, CCRs would need to meet new requirements beginning in 2025. EPA will also start collecting
compliance monitoring data from states, territories, and tribes that manage the Public Water System
Supervision program in 2025.
How do I get Involved?
EPA will host a series of webinars to provide an overview of the proposed revisions to the CCR Rule. Comments
can be submitted at www.regulations.gov, Docket ID: EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0260.
For more information on the project and to register for the webinars, please visit the project webpage:
https://www.epa.gov/ccr/consumer-confidence-report-rule-revisions.
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