根据1986年《安全饮用水法》（SDWA）制定法规的法定截止日期尚未达到。面对有限的资源，美国环境保护局（USEPA）历史上一直根据感知的需求、政治和法律期限来设定监管优先事项。这导致了一个支离破碎的监管计划，以及受监管社区和其他利益相关者的困惑。尽管该机构在大多数新法规中都受到法院规定的最后期限的约束，但资源限制导致这些最后期限被错过，从而导致新的法院判决- 强加的最后期限。包括桌子。

Statutory deadlines for setting regulations under the 1986 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) have not been met. Faced with limited resources, the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has historically set regulatory priorities based on perceived need, politics, and legal deadlines. This has resulted in a fragmented regulatory program and confusion on the part of the regulated community and on the part of other stakeholders. Even though the agency has been subject to court-imposed deadlines for most new regulations, resource limitations have caused these deadlines to be missed, resulting in new court-imposed deadlines. Includes table.