Emergency Preparedness Requirement (18 AAC 80.055)

If your Community Water System serves a population greater than 3,300 you are also subject to the federal preparedness regulations under the America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (AWIA) requiring a Risk Assessment and an Emergency Response Plan. For more information visit the AWIA Preparedness Regulation (Section 2013) website.

The State regulation 18 AAC 80.055, requires ALL Community Water Systems (CWSs) to have one of two types of emergency plan in place. The type of plan a system must have will depend upon the size of population it serves. The purpose of the state requirement is to enhance preparedness of CWS in order to maintain service and operations during and after a natural or human-caused emergency that would directly or indirectly affect drinking water quality and quantity.

To learn more about how to generate an emergency plan that meets state requirements, visit the Generate a Plan web page. Meanwhile, the tabs below contain information on the major planning requirements, deadlines, templates, required forms, and frequently asked questions related to this regulation.

Definitions
How is Compliance Determined?
Critical Deadlines
Templates
Forms
Frequently Asked Questions

A Vulnerability Assessment (VA) is the process of identifying, quantifying, and prioritizing the vulnerabilities in a water system and assessing the threats from potential hazards to the public and infrastructure.
An Emergency Response Plan (ERP) is a written document that describes specific actions water system staff would take to respond to, and mitigate, the detrimental effects of a natural disaster, human-caused act or accident, or other hazards that would affect a system’s operation. The actions prescribed in an ERP are based directly on the findings of a water system’s vulnerability assessment, and are therefore specific to each water system.
A Priority Measures Plan (PMP) is an abridged version of the ERP. The PMP describes specific actions water system staff will take to respond to, and mitigate, the detrimental effects of a natural disaster, human-caused act or accident, or other hazards affecting a system’s operation.

If serving a population of 1,000 or more persons, a CWS must complete a Vulnerability Assessment (VA) and an Emergency Response Plan (ERP).
If serving a population of 999 or fewer persons, a CWS must complete a Priority Measures Plan (PMP).
The CWS owner must complete and submit to the DEC a VA/ERP or PMP Certification Form (available under the Forms section) confirming that the appropriate information is contained in the required emergency planning documents. For assistance in developing the actual plan, the DEC has developed templates (available under the Templates tab) for your convenience.
There is no requirement to submit the actual plan (e.g. VA, ERP, or PMP) to the Drinking Water Program.

For New Water Systems (began operation after August 20, 2012):

All new CWS' subject to this regulation must complete either a VA/ERP or PMP and submit the appropriate DEC VA/ERP or PMP Certification Form 60 days after Approval to Operate has been given.

For Existing Water Systems (began operation before August 20, 2012):

All CWS', serving a population of 999 or fewer persons, were required to complete a PMP and submit a DEC PMP Certification Form by August 20, 2013.
All CWS', serving a population of 1,000 or more persons, were required to complete a VA/ERP and submit a DEC VA/ERP Certification Form by February 20, 2014.
Any "existing" CWS, who has not submitted the approprate Certification Form to the DEC are considered overdue and out of compliance with the 18 AAC 80.055 requirement .

What if my community water system's population has grown to serve 1,00 people or more?

If a community water system finds that thier population served has grown to 1,000 or more, a VA/ERP must be certified by the due date of the biennial update.

What if the community has an emergency plan that includes the community water system?

If each of the provisions that are required in the regulation according to the system's classification and population size, it has been recently updated, an it is familiar to staff, their plan can be certified using the proper certification form.

If an owner, operator or administrator oversees more than one system, can they certify multiple systems covered in one plan?

Emergency plans are site-specific so having the same plan for different systems in different locations is not recommended, although we recognize elements of the plan may be the same from one system to the next. Each system must be certified on its own certification form to be kept on file. There may be exceptions to this policy, and may be left to the discretion of the system's assigned EPS and their Supervisor.

When does a new community water system need to complete and certify thier PMP or VA/ERP to the state?

The owner of a CWS must submit a certification form, verifying that either the VA/ERP or PMP has been completed, no later than 60 days after receiving Interim or Final Approval to Operate, whichever comes first.

How can I find out what kind of plan I have to complete?

The Drinking Water Watch web page contains population information for every Public Water System in Alaska. You can also contact the Drinking Water Program directly at (907) 269-7656.

How much will this cost?

Since we encourage community water system owners to conduct their own VA and make an ERP or PMP, the only cost is time to do them. The Drinking Water Program has free templates to assist you (available under the Templates tab).