October 20, 2021 Request for Certification of Need

EPA published a Federal Register Notice (FRN) for three utilities that applied for a Certification of Need under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Section 1441 authorities. The FRN was published on October 20, 2021 with a 14-day comment period. EPA received comments from suppliers, water sector associations, and non-profit organizations. All comments were considered in the final decision.

On November 17, 2021, EPA informed one applicant listed in the October 20, 2021 FRN that Certifications of Need would not be issued under SDWA Section 1441. Through coordination by EPA between the applicants and the contracted suppliers, it was determined that the needs of the water system applicants had been met and the Certifications of Need were no longer necessary. While the FRN published on October 20, 2021 included three water systems, the decision only references one system because two of the water systems withdrew their applications after the FRN was published.