The Sole Source Aquifer (SSA) program allows individuals and organizations to petition the USEPA to designate aquifers as the "sole or principal" source of drinking water for an area. The program was established under Section 1424(e) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of 1974. The primary purpose of the designation is to provide USEPA review of Federal financially assisted projects planned for an area and to determine their potential for contaminating the aquifer "so as to create a significant hazard to public health". Based on this review, no commitment of Federal financial assistance may be made for projects "which the Administrator (of USEPA) determines may contaminate such (an) aquifer," although Federal funds may be used to modify projects to ensure that they will not contaminate the aquifer.

The SSA program is not intended to be used to inhibit or stop development of landfills, publicly-owned treatment works or public facilities financed by non-Federal funds. Furthermore, the SSA program is not linked to other Federal environmental regulatory or remedial programs, except where Federal financial assistance is committed in a designated sole source aquifer area.

The SSA program is an important tool for protecting the nation's ground water. As of February 1996 there were 65 designated SSAs across the country. From 1990-1995, 1,962 projects affecting $6,520,253 in federal funds were reviewed under the program; 968 of these projects were approved without modification, 94 were modified, and 8 were disapproved.

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