Resources to Complete Your Risk & Resilience Assessment and Emergency Response Plan September 13, 2019 By Jill Wallitschek Asset Management, Emergency Response, Regulations resilience, awia, emergency response plan, erp, featured document, risk assessment 0 Drinking water utilities should be aware of the risk and resilience assessment (RRA) and emergency response plan (ERP) requirements mandated by section 2013 of the America’s Water and Infrastructure Act (AWIA) of 2018. Under section 2013, community water systems (CWS) serving populations of 3,300 people or more are required to perform a risk assessment using the results to develop or update their ERP. The due date to certify the completion of these requirements is dependent on the population served by the system. If a CWS provides water to a consecutive system, they must include the population of the consecutive system in the total population served. *After submitting the RRA, the ERP must be submitted and certified within six months. Community water systems will be required to review and revise, as necessary, their RRA and ERP every five years after the initial certification dates. These new AWIA requirements amend section 1433 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), originally created from the Bioterrorism Act of 2002. The Act focused on incidents of terrorism and required CWS’s serving more than 3,300 people to conduct a vulnerability assessment (VA) and develop an ERP. The new AWIA requirements place an emphasis on the risks of malevolent acts, natural disasters, and cybersecurity. Since the vulnerability assessments from the Bioterrorism Act are now more than 10 years old, AWIA approved the destruction of these assessments. Utilities that want their VA returned instead can submit a request letter to the EPA before the due date of their risk assessment. To assist in meeting the new requirements, the EPA has developed several resources designed specifically for AWIA. Resources and tools are uploaded on this EPA web page as they become available. The risk and resilience assessment is the first requirement due under section 2013 and necessary to develop your ERP. The assessment must include six criteria. Following the assessment, the ERP must include four criteria in addition to any state requirements. In this blog we will provide information about these AWIA resources in addition to other documents that can be useful to complete your RRA and ERP. EPA's AWIA Resources: Resiliency and Risk Assessment: Vulnerability Self-Assessment Tool (VSAT) 2.0 U.S. EPA This downloadable tool was updated to help utilities conduct risk and resilience assessments under AWIA. The tool can estimate risks from malevolent threats and natural hazards while evaluating potential improvement strategies. Baseline Information on Malevolent Acts for Community Water Systems U.S. EPA AWIA requires that the RRA addresses risks to ‘malevolent acts’. The EPA provides baseline information on malevolent acts and how to assess their potential threats in this 51-page guide. Emergency Response Plans: Community Water System Emergency Response Plan U.S. EPA This 13-page document includes a emergency response plan template with instructions developed to assist systems in meeting the ERP requirements under AWIA. Other Helpful Resources to Get Started: Resiliency and Risk Assessment: CREAT Risk Assessment U.S. EPA CREAT is a risk assessment tool to help utilities to adapt to extreme weather events. New users will be required to fill out a registration form. While your account is processing, check out a more preliminary EPA climate adaptation tool, the Resilient Strategies Guide for Water Utilities. Reference Guide for Asset Management Inventory and Risk Analysis Southwest Environmental Finance Center This 9-page guide acts as a starting point to inventory assets and consider potential failure risks. The table suggests the information that should be collected while taking an inventory of assets. Financial Planning: A Guide for Water and Wastewater Systems Rural Community Assistance Corporation Utilities need to include a financial infrastructure assessment in their RRA. The 59-page guidebook provides a process for developing and monitoring a utility budget, evaluating rates, and developing a 5-year financial plan. Simplified Vulnerability Assessment Tool for Drinking Water Kansas Department of Health and Environment In this 24-page guide systems will learn about risk minimization, the probability of asset threats, consequences of threats, and threat deterrents. Emergency Response Plans: Flood Emergency Action Procedures: Preparation Guide for Small Communities Midwest Assistance Program The 50-page document provides a flood preparedness planning methodology for small rural communities. 15 Cybersecurity Fundamentals for Water and Wastewater Utilities Water ISAC This updated 56-page guide explains the best practices water utilities can use to reduce security risks to their IT and OT systems. To certify the completion of your RRA or ERP, the EPA has developed guidelines for certification submittals via their secure online portal, email, or mail. If your system needs any additional help to meet these requirements, the EPA will be hosting in-person and online training sessions for each region. If these document suggestions don’t meet your system needs, check out our document library to find a variety of resources on risk assessment and emergency response. Comments are closed.