白宫不断发出警告，进一步的恐怖袭击几乎是必然的，这引起了人们对数千家美国供水商面临的生物恐怖主义风险的高度关注，并引发了供水界、美国环境保护局（USEPA）和国会为应对这一威胁而采取的行动。这些行动包括:脆弱性评估培训研讨会和制定安全计划；加强与联邦、州和地方执法部门的协调；改善人身安全；实施更严厉的政策；联邦支持完成关键VAs并更新应急响应计划（ERP），以反映此类评估的结果； 此外，国会通过了一项基础广泛的生物恐怖主义法案（HR3448），其中包括在《安全饮用水法》中增加新的饮用水安全和安全要求的条款。具体而言，新法律要求美国环保局提供基线 截至2002年8月1日关于可能威胁的信息 这应该在VAs中解决，并发展 小型系统完成VAs的指南 ERPs和ERPs。新法律还扩大了美国环保局的管辖范围 紧急情况管理局有权保护受威胁的人 或潜在的恐怖袭击或其他故意袭击 并因篡改而增加罚款和监禁 水系统。

Continuing White House warnings that further terrorist attacks are all but certain have brought heightened attention to bioterrorism risks faced by thousands of American water suppliers and triggered actions by the water supply community, the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and Congress to address the threat. Those actions include: training seminars in vulnerability assessment (VA) and developing security plans; enhanced coordination with federal, state and local law enforcement; physical security improvements; implementation of tougher policies; federal support for completing critical VAs and updating emergency response plans (ERPs) to reflect findings from such assessments; and, a broad-based bioterrorism bill (HR3448) passed by Congress that includes provisions that add new drinking water security and safety requirements to the Safe Drinking Water Act. Specifically, the new law requires USEPA to provide baseline information by August 1, 2002 on probable threats that should be addressed in VAs and to develop guidance for small systems on completing VAs and ERPs. The new law also extends USEPA's emergency powers authority to cover threatened or potential terrorist or other intentional attacks and increases fines and prison terms for tampering with water systems.