America's Water Infrastructure Act's

Electronic Certification Process for Completion of
Risk and Resilience Assessments and Emergency Response Plans

Introduction:

This document provides guidance on how to certify the completion of your community
water system's risk and resilience assessment and emergency response plan to the U.S.
EPA, as required under Section 2013 of America's Water Infrastructure Act. This law
establishes certification deadlines based on community water system population
served and requires re-certification to occur every five-years; see U.S.	erica's

Water Infrastructure Act website for more information. For purposes of this guide, we will
illustrate the path of a utility certifying its risk and resilience assessment first, then its
emergency response plan.

Step 1 - Account Registration:

From our America's Water Infrastructure Act Certification page, select the "Certify my
community water system's risk and resilience assessment" link.

Begin by registering your community water system. If you do not have an existing U.S.
EPA CDX account, select "Register a new account" to sign up, otherwise login with your
User ID and password.

Once you register, future risk and resilience assessment or emergency response plan
certifications can be completed in a few simple clicks. If you need assistance or have
questions about the certification process, please reach out to the U.S. EPA via email at
scs@epaecdx.net or call 888-890-1995 (Option 2).

Step 2 - PWSID Number:

Next enter your community water system's PWSID number, including your two-letter
state or territory abbreviation followed by the full seven-digit identification number, with
no spaces in between, then select "Continue." You'll see a pop-up to ensure your
PWSID number is correct, recheck your input, then select "Continue" again.

Step 3 - Terms and Conditions:

Read and accept the terms and conditions, click the box certifying your acceptance,
then click "Accept."

Step 4 - Account Details:

Now it is time to build your "Account Profile." Enter the required information in the
Account Owner section. Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*). The system
does require your First and Last names, as well as your email address.

Create your User ID and password. The password must be least eight characters long
and contain at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, and one number.
Confirm your password, then select and complete the three security questions. The

July 25, 2019

1


-------
answers to these questions will be used to recover your password if it is forgotten. You
may click the box on the bottom left-hand side of the screen to Show Passwords and
Answers to ensure that you have typed in the correct entries. Note that you may create
a PDF of your answers and keep a password protected digital copy or print your
responses and keep them in a safe place. Now select "Continue" to move on to the
next screen.

Step 5 - Organization or Community Water System Information:

On this page you'll encounter one of two scenarios:

Scenario 1: If your community water system is listed below.

•	Click on the community water system name.

•	Click the "Select1" icon next to your address.

•	Click the "Continue" icon at the bottom right-hand side of the screen.

•	Click the "Add new address" link. If your address information is incorrect, supply the
correct information, then click "Continue."

Scenario 2: If your community water system is not listed below.

•	Enter your community water system's name in the search box.

•	Click on your community water system's information, then click the "Continue" icon
at the bottom right-hand side of the screen.

•	If problems persist in identifying your system, select the "Enter a new organization"
link, add your information, then click the "Continue" icon. Alternatively, you may
want to ensure your PWSID number is correctly entered by clicking the "Program
Identification" link in the upper left-hand toolbar of this screen. When applicable,
correct your information and continue.

After walking through one of these two scenarios, click "Continue."

Step 6 - Email Validation:

After entering your community water system's information, you will receive an
automated email from SCS Administrator in your email inbox containing an account
validation code. Enter the validation code into the "Code" field under your User ID and
select "Create Account." This code is only used for account creation and you do not
need to save it.

Your account is now created. You will be directed to your Dashboard where you will
see your pending actions. A second email is also sent to your email inbox from SCS
Administrator stating that your account has been activated.

1 The selection of your Organization or Community Water System.
July 25, 2019

2


-------
Step 7 - Certification Selection Process:

The next step is to certify your pending actions. Your Risk and Resilience Assessment or
Emergency Response Plan certification processes are very similar, so for demonstration
purposes, we will we will choose to click on "Certify your Risk and Resilience
Assessment."

Step 8 - Certification Statements:

You will be presented with your standard risk and resilience assessment certification
statement, which is based on the language in Section 2013 of America's Water
Infrastructure Act. Your name, community water system's name, and population served
will be auto-populated into the certification statement. Please review the statement.
You may edit your community water system's name and its population served, then
select the "Certify Now" icon on the bottom left of your screen.

Prior to certification, you may also print this page as a record for your files and you will
receive an acknowledgement of receipt email from U.S. EPA fscs@epaecdx.net) when
your certification is completed.

If you run into any issues, please click on the "Contact Us" link in the top right of your
screen.

Step 9 - Vulnerability Assessments Submitted to U.S. EPA Under the Public Health Security
and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002:

Under the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of
2002, your community water system likely submitted a vulnerability assessment to U.S.
EPA. On this screen you will be asked if you want that vulnerability assessment: 1)
permanently disposed of by U.S. EPA; 2) returned to you; or 3) if the scenario is not
applicable. Make your choice and click "Submit."

Once you have certified your risk and resilience assessment and addressed the existing
vulnerability assessment matter, a pop-up message will appear on your screen asking if
you want to certify your emergency response plan now or later. You may not be ready
to certify your emergency response plan at this time, so you may select "Certify Later;"
this selection will return you to the homepage.

If you are ready to certify your emergency response plan, select "Certify Now." This will
open a page that prompts you to enter your PWSID number and "Select'" your
Organization or Community Water System as you did under the Enter Organization
Information process above.

Once you have opened the certification page, as before, you will have the ability to
edit your community water system's name and population served before submitting.
Prior to certification, you may also print this page as a record for your files and you will
receive an acknowledgement of receipt email from U.S. EPA fscs@epaecdx.net) once
certification is completed.

1 The selection of your Organization or Community Water System.

July 25, 2019

3


-------
Step 10 - Future Logins:

Once these steps are completed, you will be able to simply login with your established
User ID and password to certify your risk and resilience assessment or emergency
response plan in the future.

OTHER FEATURES

Accessing Past Certifications:

On the risk and resilience assessment and emergency response plan certification
statement pages, there will be an icon to view your certification history.

User ID and Password Reset:

If you have an account but have forgotten your User ID, select the "Forgot your User ID"
hyperlink under the login boxes; this will take you to a screen to retrieve your User ID.
Enter the email address you used to register your account and select "Submit." You can
then check your email for your User ID.

Similarly, if you have forgotten your password, select the "Forgot your Password"
hyperlink under the login boxes. This will take you to a screen to reset your password.
Enter your email address and User ID and select "Submit" and check your email for a
link to reset your password.

Help and Technical Support:

If you encounter any issues, please email dwresilience@epa.aov, call the Help Desk at
888-890-1995 (Option 2), or select "Contact Us" on the login page to access the
Helpdesk via email fscs@epaecdx.net).

July 25, 2019

4


-------