NDWAC Membership

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Composition of the Council

The fifteen member National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC) includes individuals from the general public, state and local agencies, and private groups that are concerned with safe drinking water and public health.  The council also has technical advisors.

What is the composition of membership?

The NDWAC has 15 members who serve as Special Government Employees. Members are appointed by EPA's Administrator. The Administrator may delegate this responsibility to the Deputy Administrator.

Five members are appointed from each of the following areas:

  • Appropriate state and local agencies concerned with water hygiene and public water supply.
  • Private organizations or groups demonstrating an active interest in the field of water hygiene and public water supply, of which 2 members shall be associated with small, rural public water systems.
  • The general public.

Who are the technical advisors from other federal advisory committees or federal agencies?

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are serving as technical liaisons to the NDWAC. 

Subgroups

EPA may form NDWAC subcommittees or working groups for any purpose consistent with the charter. Such subcommittees or working groups work through the NDWAC. Subcommittees or working groups have no authority to make decisions on behalf of the NDWAC nor can they report directly to EPA.

Ethics Requirements

Members of the NDWAC are employed as Special Government Employees (SGEs) as defined under 18 U.S.C. 202(a). SGEs are required to abide by appropriate ethics regulations issued by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. Among these requirements are the submission of a confidential financial disclosure form and completion of ethics training.

NDWAC members are required to file a confidential financial disclosure report when first appointed and then annually thereafter.

Members must complete the form "Confidential Financial Disclosure Form for Environmental Protection Agency Special Government Employees" (EPA Form 3110-48) (pdf) (163.94 KB) This form is used by government officials to determine whether there are ethics issues with regard to the service of an advisory council member.

Members of the council may also be required to update the confidential form before each meeting while they serve.

NDWAC Working Groups

On occasion, NDWAC working groups are formed to address key issues and make recommendations to the council.  These working groups are subsets of the council and may contain other national experts.  These working groups have no authority to report directly to EPA.

EPA is currently seeking input to inform potential regulatory revisions of eight National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWRs) included in the Microbial and Disinfection Byproducts (MDBP) rules. The MDBP rules were identified as candidates for revision as part of the latest Six-Year Review of all of the NPDWRs. As part of the potential regulatory revision effort, EPA has requested that the NDWAC provide the agency with advice and recommendation on key issues related to potential revisions to MDBP rules. The work of the NDWAC is supported by a Microbial and Disinfection Byproducts Rule Revisions Working Group. The report of the Microbial and Disinfection Byproducts Rule Revisions Working Group to the NDWAC is available here:

EPA's charge to the NDWAC, the working group's roster, and other items, including past meeting agendas and meeting summaries as they become available, may be found here:

Information about previous NDWAC working groups may be found here:

National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC)

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Last updated on January 9, 2024