The core purpose of the source water assessments in any source water protection area is to provide a strong basis for developing, implementing, and improving SWP actions in that source water protection area. The elements that a submittal will need to contain in order to be approved by EPA are described in Part II in this chapter. There are also several recommendations that EPA will make for state submittals, but these recommendations are optional for the states. In other words, EPA is not seeking to apply the guidance as a regulation, but intends, where appropriate, to allow equivalent alternatives to meet the functional objectives of the statute. While the statute does not explicitly require the tribes to implement SWAPs, EPA recommends that each tribe implement such a program to the extent appropriate resources are available to do so.
Tribes can benefit from ensuring that the PWSs on tribal lands undertake assessments.
Some tribes have implemented WHP activities and watershed approaches. If so, these tribes have already begun to delineate their source water protection areas and likely have begun a contamination source inventory. These tribes are encouraged to continue to implement these programs. If a tribe decides to establish and implement a program, it may submit it to EPA for approval. The process and timetable for tribal programs, once submitted to EPA, will be the same as described here in Chapter 2 for states.