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SMALL SYSTEM PEER REVIEW TEAM AWARDED A HAMMER AWARD

Release Date: 02/15/2000
Contact Information: Wesley Lambert, EPA Media Relations, 404-562-8316

The United States Environmental Protection Agency today announced that a Hammer Award will be presented to the Small System Peer Review Team for their successful implementation of Vice President Gore’s powerful reinvention formula, making government work better and cost less. The award ceremony, which will be held during a luncheon at the Annual Legislative Conference of the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, will take place on Wednesday, February 16, 2000 at 12:00 noon at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in downtown Atlanta. Dignitaries scheduled to attend the event include U.S. Senator Max Cleland, Governor Roy Barnes, and U.S. EPA Regional Administrator, John H. Hankinson, Jr. The Small System Peer Review Team is designed to improve the quality of drinking water for small and rural communities and Indian Tribes. The Team is a partnership between the United States Environmental Protection Agency, participating states, and local government organizations. What began in the southern half of Georgia has now spread to Kentucky, Mississippi, Virginia and the Tribal Organizations on the East Coast. Remarkable results have been demonstrated. For example, compliance rates with the Safe Drinking Water Act in Georgia, climbed from 73% prior to the program to 96% today. The implications for public health and safety are obvious: thousands of citizens are drinking water which meets the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act. The Small System Peer Review Team serves to protect public health, increase compliance with federal and state drinking water regulations and improve the quality of drinking water for small communities. The Team provides a means to address the significant managerial, financial and technical hurdles facing small communities in rural America in providing adequate and safe drinking water. Vice President Gore’s Hammer Award recognizes the Team’s innovative work to bring water systems together, helping each other provided the best quality drinking water to the citizens in their community. John Hankinson, Jr., Regional Administrator, EPA Region 4 states, “Cooperation between federal, state and local governments is the key to protect public health.” The Small System Peer Review Team exemplifies the positive results that can be achieved by all levels of government working together to solve environmental problems.