{"data":{"id":"us/40-cfr-149.3","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"40 CFR 149.3","heading":"Critical Aquifer Protection Areas.","body":"A Critical Aquifer Protection Area is either:\n(a) All or part of an area which was designated as a sole or principal source aquifer prior to June 19, 1986, and for which an areawide ground-water quality protection plan was approved, under section 208 of the Clean Water Act, prior to that date; or\n(b) All or part of a major recharge area of a sole or principal source aquifer, designated before June 19, 1988, for which:\n(1) The sole or principal source aquifer is particularly vulnerable to contamination due to the hydrogeologic characteristics of the unsaturated or saturated zone within the suggested critical aquifer protection area; and\n(2) Contamination of the sole or principal source aquifer is reasonably likely to occur, unless a program to reduce or prevent such contamination is implemented; and\n(3) In the absence of any program to reduce or prevent contamination, reasonably foreseeable contamination would result in significant cost, taking into account:\n(i) The cost of replacing the drinking water supply from the sole or principal source aquifer, and\n(ii) Other economic costs and environmental and social costs resulting from such contamination.","path":["Title 40—Protection of Environment","CHAPTER I—ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY","SUBCHAPTER D—WATER PROGRAMS","PART 149—SOLE SOURCE AQUIFERS","Subpart A—Criteria for Identifying Critical Aquifer Protection Areas"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-40.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:26:04Z","sha256":"265e5b033a81cc67169bf5eea73a0baf224e27b4d4e6e8c798b24439d91961b4","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/40-cfr-149.2","next":"us/40-cfr-149.100"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}