EPA's Region 6 Office
Serving: Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and 66 Tribal Nations
Safe Drinking Water Act - Drinking Water Enforcement
Compliance and Enforcement Quick Finder
- About R6 CAED
- CAED Information
- Air Enforcement
- Animal Feed Lots
- Compliance Assistance
- Corrective Action
- Drinking Water
- Federal Facilities
- Hazardous Waste Enforcement
- NEPA Documents
- Offshore Oil and Gas
- Pollution Prevention
- Publications
- Refrigerants
- Storm Water Enforcement
- Strategic Planning and Analysis
- Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs)
- Water Enforcement
Water Resources Section
(6EN-WR)
| Jerry Saunders | (214)665-2298 | Section Chief |
| Mehdi Taheri | (214)665-2298 | Senior Enforcement Officer - Texas |
| Chelo Hall | (214)665-2716 | Senior Enforcement Officer - New Mexico & Indian Tribes |
| Linda Hutchison | (214)665-8416 | Senior Enforcement Officer - Oklahoma & Arkansas |
| Hillol Ray | (214)665-7502 | Senior Enforcement Officer - Louisiana |
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) was passed in 1974 and all of the States under EPA Region 6 (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas) have been delegated primary enforcement authority or what is called "primacy". The 1986 Amendments to the SDWA, in effect, created a drinking water enforcement program in EPA. The Drinking Water Enforcement (DWE) has Enforcement Officers assigned to each State and those individuals are the focal point for implementation of EPA Regional policy for "timely" and "appropriate" enforcement responses to violations. Violations of the SDWA are prioritized according to the severity of the violations, the worst cases being "significant non-compliers". The Enforcement Officers serve as technical experts in providing engineering guidance to water systems to remediate violations. This technical assistance is generally achieved by working directly with mayors, city managers, owners, operators or their consulting engineers or attorneys.
Mission
Protection of human health and safeguard drinking water in EPA Region 6 by ensuring:
- Federal/State Drinking Water Statutes are enforced fairly and effectively.
- Timely and appropriate enforcement actions are taken against significant SDWA violators and these actions will serve as a deterrent to future violators.
- The State Environmental Agencies, the regulated community, and concerned citizens have access to accurate information to effectively participate in sensitive drinking water discussions.
If the EPA Region 6 does not have primacy in a State for a new rule, the DWE will retain direct enforcement authority for rule compliance. For States with primacy, the DWE will encourage the State to form partnership with EPA Region 6 to enforce complex upcoming rules.
Lead/Copper Rule; Surface Water Treatment Rule; Public Notification Rule; Total Coliform Rule; Chemical and Radiological Rule; and Consumer Confidence Rule are a few examples of the SDWA's regulations.