Vulnerability Assessments for Drinking Water Systems

On June 12, 2002, President Bush signed the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (Title IV) into law. The act requires every community water system serving more than 3,300 persons to:

• Conduct a vulnerability assessment.
• Certify and submit a copy of the assessment to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) within a specified time.
• Prepare or revise an emergency response plan incorporating the results of the vulnerability assessment.
• Certify to EPA that the system has completed such a plan within six months of completing the vulnerability assessment.
• While not required, the EPA strongly recommend that water systems update their vulnerability assessments and emergency response plans every five years or after any significant changes to the system.

For additional information on these requirements, download the following EPA documents.

• Conducting a Drinking Water or Wastewater Utility Risk Assessment
• EPA's Vulnerability Self-Assessment Tool (VSAT)
• EPA's Creating Resilient Water Utilities (CRWU)

For questions or technical assistance, please contact EPA.