Premium
The Emperor Has No Clothes
Author(s) -
Allen Martin J.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.1993.tb06052.x
Subject(s) - enforcement , safe drinking water act , water supply , clothing , business , compliance (psychology) , clean water act , quality (philosophy) , public administration , law , political science , environmental planning , water quality , engineering , environmental science , environmental engineering , psychology , ecology , social psychology , philosophy , epistemology , biology
In this critique of the water quality regulations, the author maintains that a misguided Congress created a regulatory mess when it reauthorized the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1986. Regulations are now driven by deadline, not science, and the emphasis on compliance and enforcement actions is blind at best. Everyone in the water supply community wants to provide safe, reliable, and affordable drinking water, but the current regulatory mess hampers rather than enhances the effort. As Congress begins the long journey to the next SDWA reauthorization, the water supply community must educate congressmen. If members of Congress are armed with information about the projected costs and realistic benefits of the regulations, they may change some of the law's requirements when they reauthorize it.