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Summary

Damage to or destruction of the nations water supply and water quality infrastructure by terrorist attack or natural disaster could disrupt the delivery of vital human services in this country, threatening public health and the environment, or possibly causing loss of life. Interest in such problems has increased greatly since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States. Across the country, water infrastructure systems extend over vast areas, and ownership and operation responsibility are both public and private, but are overwhelmingly non-federal. Since the attacks, federal dam operators and local water and wastewater utilities have been under heightened security conditions and are evaluating security plans and measures. There are no federal standards or agreed-upon industry practices within the water infrastructure sector to govern readiness, response to security incidents, and recovery. Efforts to develop protocols and tools are ongoing since the 2001 terrorist attacks. This report presents an overview of this large and diverse sector, describes security-related actions by the government and private sector since September 11, and discusses additional policy issues and responses, including congressional interest. Policymakers have been considering a number of initiatives, including enhanced physical security, better communication and coordination, and research. A key issue is how additional protections and resources directed at public and private sector priorities will be funded. In response, Congress has provided $862 million in appropriations for security at water infrastructure facilities (to assess and protect federal facilities and support security assessment and risk reduction activities by non-federal facilities) and passed a bill requiring drinking water utilities to conduct security vulnerability assessments (P.L. 107-188). When Congress created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2002 (P.L. 107-297), it gave DHS responsibilities to coordinate information to secure the nations critical infrastructure, including the water sector. Under Homeland Security Presidential Directive-7, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the lead federal agency for protecting drinking water and wastewater utility systems. Recent congressional interest has focused on two legislative issues: (1) security of wastewater utilities, and (2) whether to include water utilities in chemical security regulations implemented by DHS. In the 109th Congress, a Senate committee approved legislation to encourage wastewater treatment works to conduct vulnerability assessments and develop site security plans (S. 2781). Similar legislation was introduced in the 110th Congress (S. 1968), but there was no further action on the bill. Also in the 110th Congress, bills to extend DHSs Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards were considered but not enacted. One bill (H.R. 5533) would have preserved an existing exemption for water utilities from chemical facility standards, while another (H.R. 5577) would have included them in the scope of DHS security rules. The Obama Administration has requested that the current chemical facilities standards, which are scheduled to sunset September 30, 2009, be extended for one year without modification. Continuing attention to these issues in the 111th Congress is possible, along with interest in how the federal government coordinates its own activities and communicates policies and information to the water infrastructure sector.

Related Legislation:
• S.2781
• S.1968
• H.R.5533
• H.R.5577

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