The good news is that the state’s Department of Environmental Protection is currently working to ensure that water quality improves for Pennsylvania residents through its Safe Drinking Water Program.

The bad news is that an increase in the annual fee providers pay the DEP to make sure water is safe to drink could cost local municipalities thousands of dollars.

But residents will be glad to know that local leaders do not expect the fee increase will be passed along to them. The Safe Drinking Water Program took effect earlier this year. Through the fee increase, the state hopes to generate $7.5 million to go toward funding its 8,500 public water systems. The funding would help municipalities meet state and federal water quality standards by hiring additional staff to conduct inspections and analysis of drinking water more frequently.

This is a good thing. Budget cuts over a period of a decade left the DEP short staffed and, as a result, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency noted in 2016 that the state was risking public health by failing to meet federal drinking water standards.

The overall calculated number for the new fee increase is based on the number of customers covered by a public water system and includes residents, schools, hospitals, businesses, churches and a number of other types of public places. The fee structure ranges from $250 to $40,000 for community water systems.

Sections of Butler County — which have seen an increase in the number of residents and commuters — could see large fee increases.

However, leaders in most local townships and boroughs said they did not expect that residents would be forced to pay for them.

In Buffalo Township, which would pay $10,000 under the program, the cost was absorbed through the general water fund budget, and a slight water rate increase for residents was required to offset it.

But other municipalities found ways around it.

Laura Kamienski, office manager for the Evans City Water & Sewer Authority, said its fee amount increased from $200 to $2,000, but that any increase for customers would be the result of an increase in overall expenditures and not one specific fee.

Seven Fields council approved the payment of its increase, which rose from $400 to $4,000. But borough Manager Tom Smith said the cost would not be passed on to residents.

The fee increase was not something for which municipalities could have planned. As Smith noted, it was announced during the “throes of the budget process.”

And even in the cases where fees went up slightly for residents, it’s for a good purpose.

“The DEP wants to pass on the costs to make sure all drinking systems are operating at a safe level,” Smith said.

It’s difficult to argue that as far as investments go, public health is among the most important when it comes to forking over a little more money.