EPA SENDS DRINKING WATER LOAN FUND GUIDANCE TO OMB

EPA has sent its guidance for implementing the drinking water state revolving load fund to the Office of Management & Budget, according to agency sources who say they hope to have the new loan program in place by February. Despite this effort, agency staff say few states will be eligible to receive the funds this year. On Aug. 6, 1996, President Clinton signed the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996. The statute created a new drinking water state revolving...

STATES CALL ON EPA TO EXTEND PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD FOR NAAQS PROPOSALS

State and local officials are calling on EPA to extend the comment period for its proposals to strengthen the national ozone and particulate matter standards, so that the public is provided with an "adequate" opportunity to weigh in on the landmark initiatives. While sensitive to these concerns, EPA staff nonetheless express doubt that any extensions will be granted, noting that the agency could not possibly meet an existing court-ordered deadline if the public were provided with two additional months to...

EPA WATERSHED ASSESSMENTS MAY AID IN FUTURE ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS

Several EPA staffers say a new effort to assess the quality of the nation's watersheds may provide the enforcement office with a valuable new tool that will help the program target industrial dischargers for permit violations. State representatives argue, however, that the assessments lack national consistency and thus, should not be used in any enforcement effort. One official says states may decide not to provide EPA with water quality data should the agency chose to use the data to target...

DRAFT EPA POLICY LIMITS CITIZENS' ABILITY TO VETO XL PROPOSALS

An EPA proposal to clarify the role of community groups in the agency's leading regulatory flexibility program is being sharply criticized by activists, who say the proposal does little to put local groups on equal footing with industry and regulators under EPA's Project XL. EPA staff counter that the proposal, which was developed at the request of community group representatives, lays out a clear framework that ensures community groups have adequate input into the consensus-based program. The proposal also describes...

EPA AGREES TO PROPOSE CONTROVERSIAL CLEAN AIR UTILITY BOILER RULE BY JULY

EPA has agreed to propose a controversial Clean Air Act rule that will impose emission control requirements on new utility boilers by July 1, under a new consent decree that EPA staff say will accommodate the agency's plans to overhaul a 1995 draft proposal. In 1995, a heated debate surfaced when EPA attempted to issue a proposal that would set new source performance standards to control emissions of nitrogen oxides from new utility boilers. The proposal was particularly controversial since...

LONGTIME DINGELL AIDE LEAVES FOR PRIVATE PRACTICE.

Alan Roth, Minority Staff Director of the House Commerce Committee and longtime advisor to John Dingell (D-MI), is leaving Capitol Hill to join the St. Louis-based law firm of Bryan Cave. Roth will be replaced by Reid Stuntz, another longtime Commerce Committee aide who has previously managed Dingell's responsibilities in the areas of oversight and investigations. Source: Inside EPA via InsideEPA.com Issue: Vol. 18, No. 1

INDUSTRY REPORT SHOWS PROGRESS IN EPA'S SUPERFUND REFORM PROGRAM

A new report conducted jointly by industry representatives and EPA staff shows that the agency's administrative reforms to the Superfund cleanup program are being reliably implemented by EPA regional offices, a finding that EPA staff say demonstrates the agency's commitment to fixing the program. The report, "EPA's Superfund Reforms: A Report on the First Year of Implementation," is the first systematic review of the agency's efforts to make Superfund cleanups more efficient through administrative program changes. The analysis, conducted by...

EPA LOOKS TO STREAMLINE CLEAN WATER PERMITS FOR OIL & GAS FACILITIES

TIES EPA is considering streamlining its regulations for issuing clean water discharge permits to oil and gas facilities, according to EPA staff who say they have agreed to meet with industry groups early this year to consider possible efforts to speed the permitting process. EPA's water program has made regulatory reinvention a high priority in 1997 and sources say the agency is open to considering additional regulatory streamlining efforts during the new year that have not already been identified. Under...

INDEPENDENT FIRMS RACE AHEAD TO DEVELOP INDOOR AIR STANDARDS

Two major third-party product certification groups are racing to develop first-ever residential indoor air quality standards, each charging that EPA's lack of regulatory authority on this front makes it necessary for the independent groups to develop standards. But EPA sources are questioning the effort out of concern that both companies appear to lack the technical sophistication to undertake such a project on their own. Underwriters Laboratories and the National Sanitation Foundation are both indicating that they want to develop indoor...

EPA TO DRAFT POLICY FOR CONTROLLING RUNOFF FROM INACTIVE MINES

EPA is developing a national policy to reduce water pollution from inactive and abandoned mines on federal lands, according to agency staff who say EPA is working alongside other federal agencies to address this long-standing problem. Agency staff say the effort will likely include issuing a general Clean Water Act permit to require federal agencies, primarily the Departments of Interior and Agriculture, to control and monitor runoff from abandoned mining sites. Through the National Permit Discharge Elimination System, EPA and...

LEADING ADVISORY GROUP DRAFTS ALTERNATIVE COMPLIANCE PROPOSAL

A leading advisory group on revising the environmental regulatory process has drafted a report spelling out minimum requirements for an "alternative compliance" demonstration project, but has stopped short of taking a position on whether federal legislation is necessary to authorize such a project. The draft recommendations target a number of key issues that EPA has been wrestling with as it implements Project XL, the agency's flagship regulatory reform effort. The draft report was produced by a workgroup of the Enterprise...

REGIONS CALL FOR IMMEDIATE IMPLEMENTATION OF AIR ENFORCEMENT RULE

Several EPA regional offices are urging the enforcement office to finalize a controversial Clean Air Act enforcement rule without allowing for a transition period, according to agency sources who say the regions are interested in immediately pursuing a number of cases under the rule. EPA sources would not comment on whether the rule, which is currently being reviewed by the Office of Management & Budget, will be phased-in or fully implemented immediately. At issue is a Clean Air Act rule...

EPA TO LAUNCH EFFORT TO REDUCE REPORTING BURDEN ON STATES

EPA is launching an effort to reduce the reporting burden imposed by the agency on states, according to EPA staff who say the effort could include reducing the amount of permitting and monitoring data that states are required to submit to the agency. The agency's water office is taking the lead in the project, although the recommendations will carry over to other agency programs. States will also be asked to play a critical role in helping the agency determine what...

STATE OFFICIALS RIP BROWNER FOR UNDERMINING 'PARTNERSHIP'

EPA Administrator Carol Browner is being taken to task by state officials who are irked by a recent interview in which Browner suggests that some states may be abrogating their responsibility to enforce delegated environmental laws. Concerned that Browner is attempting to politicize environmental enforcement, the officials are calling on the administrator to make it clear that the agency does indeed support its partnership with states that has been nurtured over the previous four years. The controversy in question originally...

Inside EPA - 01/03/1997

Fri, 1997-01-03 00:00

ENVIRONMENTALISTS BLAST BILL TO SPUR LOGGING ON FEDERAL LANDS

Draft forestry legislation introduced last month by Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) is drawing fire from environmentalists who claim, among other things, that the bill would thwart future efforts to develop strong, enforceable state nonpoint source water programs. Craig, who chairs the Senate subcommittee on Forests & Public Lands Management and has been a vocal critic of current federal forestry practices, circulated draft legislation last week which would permit federal forest lands to be used for multiple purposes, including logging. "The...

FARM GROUPS RESIST LINKS BETWEEN STORMWATER, NONPOINT SOURCES

Agriculture industry representatives are warning EPA officials about the Clean Water Act (CWA) limits on the authority of water quality regulators to assure adequate nonpoint source controls before increasing municipal regulatory requirements for stormwater discharges. A senior Office of Wastewater Management (OWM) official says agriculture officials misunderstood the purpose of recent EPA discussions with states and cities about developing strong nonpoint source control program before subjecting cities to much more regulation. In a recent letter, the American Farm Bureau Federation...

REG REINVENTION REMAINS HIGH PRIORITY IN 1997 WATER PROGRAM

Office of Water (OW) sources say regulatory reinvention efforts will remain a top priority in 1997, despite growing agreement among some agency staff that resources could be better spent in other water program areas. In 1995, under the administration's reinvention initiative, EPA staff began a comprehensive effort to revise and further improve regulations across the agency. As part of this effort, OW proposed to streamline and reduce cumbersome requirements in a number of programs. This effort included streamlining administrative procedures...

EPA LOOKS TO BROADEN DIOXIN STRATEGY FOR OCEAN DUMPING

EPA is considering broadening its guidance for determining thresholds for ocean-dumping of wastes containing dioxin, according to administration sources who say that the agency is now interested in expanding the effort to include other bioaccumulative contaminants. But agency staff warn that the management strategy has been slowed considerably and that no definitive decisions have been made on whether the scope of the dumping guidance should be expanded. Nonetheless, one environmentalist says any effort to get this document out in any...

PROPERTY RIGHTS ADVOCATES URGE FAIR STATE APPROACH ON WETLANDS

In the face of a controversial Army Corps of Engineers proposal to phase out a general permit to develop wetlands, property rights advocates are gearing up an effort to assure that states won't deny the use of wetlands general permits because of "overstated" concerns about water quality impacts. Grass roots activists are circulating a draft letter to governors on certifying nationwide permits (NWPs). On Dec. 13, the Corps announced in the Federal Register that the acreage limits for Nationwide Permit...

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