EPA and 16 partner organizations have entered into a MOU to work collaboratively at the national level to improve decentralized performance and our nation's public health and water resources. EPA initiated this MOU partnership in 2005 through an MOU with eight public and private sector organizations; the MOU was then expanded in 2008 to 14 partners and again in November 2011 to 16 partners, with the addition of both the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and NSF International. The 2011 MOU renews the commitment of EPA and its partner organizations to working together to encourage proper management of decentralized systems and increase collaboration among EPA, state and local governments, and decentralized system practitioners and providers.