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Knowledge of the law and its impact on health outcomes is increasingly important in public health practice. The CDC's Public Health Law Academy helps satisfy this need by providing online trainings, facilitator toolkits, and legal epidemiology tools to aid practitioners in learning about the law's role in promoting public health.

Up to half the population of some states in the United States drink water from small systems not regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act. The quality of the drinking water from these systems is generally unknown and may be suspect. In many jurisdictions, private wells are the primary source of water. In some instances, construction of wells may have met regulatory requirements but may not have adequately prevented disease transmission. Anecdotal information, periodic water-borne outbreaks, and recent well surveys suggest that there are public health concerns associated with these and similar systems. This article provides an assessment of the need for governmental oversight (regulatory and non-regulatory) of drinking water supplies, describes how a "systems-based" approach might be used to evaluate water supply systems and to identify and prevent possible contamination, and presents case studies describing the systems-based approach as well as a comprehensive approach to environmental health that includes drinking water regulation.

Applied public health law research is an essential element for improving the legal foundation of public health practice. This article focuses on the proper scope and the methodology related to conducting public health law research. In addition to considering the issue of translating research into practice, the article provides overviews of three current public health law research projects and the lessons they provide for researchers.