The overall goal of USEPA's Ground Water Policy is to "prevent adverse effects to human health and the environment, and to protect the environmental integrity of the nation's ground water resources." USEPA's ground water programs, which primarily involve regulatory and cleanup activities, are increasingly including ground water prevention programs. Typically, they involve a Federal-State partnership in which USEPA sets technical standards and States assume responsibility for their administration and enforcement.

USEPA currently administers five major environmental statutes that relate to ground water quality protection plus prevention, protection and research activities:

• The 1986 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) authorize USEPA to set maximum levels of contaminants allowable in drinking water, to regulate underground injections wells, to oversee development of Wellhead Protection program, to designate areas that rely on a single aquifer for their water supply (Sole Source Aquifers), and to establish a nationwide program that encourages states to develop programs to protect public water supply wells.

• Related programs that deal primarily with controlling or cleaning up contamination sources include:
  • The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulates the storage, transportation, treatment, and disposal of solid and hazardous wastes to prevent contaminants from leaching into ground water from municipal landfills, underground storage tanks, surface impoundments, and hazardous waste disposal facilities.

  • The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) authorizes USEPA to clean up contamination caused by chemical spills or hazardous waste sites that pose threats to the environment. Amendments in 1986 authorize citizens to sue violators and establish "community right-to-know" programs.

  • The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) authorizes USEPA to control the use of pesticides that have the ability to leach into ground water.

  • The Clean Water Act regulates pollutant disharges from point sources, requires development of surface water quality criteria, provides funding for construction of sewage treatment plants, and authorizes states to develop controls for non-point source pollution and ground water protection strategies.

• USEPA supports contamination prevention activities, such as USDA's programs to implement best management practices in agriculture.

• In addition, USEPA establishes national drinking water standards, conducts ground water related research and implements ground water protect initiatives, including the Ground Water Protection Strategy, the Pesticides in Ground Water Strategy, and the National Pesticide Survey.

Return to EPA Menu

© Copyright