Water

Regulatory and legislative disputes over the clean water and safe drinking water acts have major implications for dischargers, utilities and others, and our Water section features the latest news from EPA, the courts and Congress.

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Regulatory and legislative disputes over the clean water and safe drinking water acts have major implications for dischargers, utilities and others, and our Water section features the latest news from EPA, the courts and Congress.

Industry Critique Of EPA's Methods Bolsters Calls To Drop Conductivity Guide

Wastewater utilities and a variety of industry groups are criticizing EPA's proposed field-based methods for states to use in developing aquatic life water quality criteria for conductivity, bolstering calls from some in industry for the agency to withdraw the draft guide and instead let states address the issue “as needed.” The criticisms of EPA's proposed methods are detailed in public comments submitted to EPA on its "Draft Field-Based Methods for Developing Aquatic Life Criteria for Specific Conductivity" ahead of an...

Environmentalists challenge delay of power plant ELG

Environmentalists are suing EPA over its indefinite stay of the Clean Water Act (CWA) effluent rule for power plants, arguing that the agency lacks authority to halt implementation of a rule merely to ease the process of reconsidering it -- the latest bid by opponents of the Trump administration to block rollbacks of Obama-era policies. A coalition of eight environmental groups represented by Earthjustice filed their complaint May 3 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, saying...

First Trump EPA Rule For OMB Review Would Repeal Obama CWA Policy

EPA has sent its first new proposed rule for mandatory White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) policy review since the Trump administration began, seeking approval of a regulation that would repeal the Obama-era Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule as the first step in the process of rewriting the policy to narrow the water law's reach. According to OMB's website, EPA submitted the proposed rule, “Definition of 'Waters of the United States' -- Recodification of Preexisting Rules,” on...

EPA receives 43 WIFIA letters of interest

EPA has received 43 letters of interest from entities seeking credit assistance through the agency's nascent Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program for water infrastructure improvements, the first part of a two-step process for receiving loans or loan guarantees through the program. The agency announced receipt of the letters from prospective borrowers May 2, following a solicitation period that ran from Jan. 10 to April 10. “EPA received letters from entities seeking loans for the program from all...

States, Environmentalists Urge Slower Pace For EPA Water Policy Reforms

Environmentalists and state officials are calling on EPA's Office of Water (OW) to move cautiously on President Donald Trump's order to review policies for potential repeal or reform, warning that the agency's four-week timeline for public input is too short and that even minor changes to water policy could have serious adverse impacts. Members of the public who spoke during a three-hour regulatory reform call hosted on May 2 by OW largely opposed the deregulatory push from Trump and other...

NRDC cites SDWA violations to bolster EPA budget

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is pointing to widespread violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) by water utilities to press for increased federal investment in drinking water infrastructure and EPA staffing to increase oversight and enforcement of the law, as well as new standards to address unregulated contaminants. In a report released May 2 , “Threats On Tap: Widespread Violations Highlight Need For Investment In Water Infrastructure And Protections,” NRDC says nearly 77 million people, spread across...

NRDC Report

FAQ Document



Environmentalists Say Corps' CWA Policy Role Justifies District Court Suit

Environmentalists say the Army Corps of Engineers' role in jointly crafting the Obama-era Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule with EPA requires that suits over the rule should be heard in federal district court not appellate court, backing calls from states, industry groups and others for the Supreme Court to send the cases to a district court. In an April 27 brief filed with the high court, a coalition of 11 environmental groups notes that CWA section 509, which deals...

NRDC Opposes EPA Change To Water Quality 'Effects' Test Via Court Stay

Environmentalists are formally rejecting EPA's request to stay and remand potentially precedential litigation over California drought standards that could expand when the agency is required to approve "revised" state water quality standards (WQS), charging it will allow officials to change the test for determining whether to review state standards. While the groups are not opposed to EPA revising the test using regular administrative procedures, they oppose revisions by court remand because they charge it will be subject to a more...

Oklahoma Report Urges States To Speed Permits For Produced Water Reuse

Oklahoma's full report examining reuse of produced water from oil and gas extraction, seen by other states as a potential guide to their own efforts, urges states to speed Clean Water Act (CWA) permitting of discharges of purified produced water and potentially seek to expand the permit powers that EPA delegates to state regulators. But the report , released April 26 by the state's Produced Water Working Group (PWWG), suggests that the costs of treatment for reuse outside drilling fields...

Trump's 100 Days: Progress On Rule Rollbacks But Hurdles Remain

President Donald Trump has made some strides in starting to roll back environmental rules in his first 100 days in office, having more success on that front than in many other areas, but sources say that despite the administration's progress, it remains unclear when or whether the administration will be able to translate the rollbacks into final action. While it “has been a long 100 days,” one GOP strategist says, the time has included “lots of clear direction on energy...

States, Industries Join High Court Bid To Place CWA Suits In District Court

A coalition of 30 states and groups representing the utility, agriculture and other industries is joining calls for the Supreme Court to rule that lawsuits over the Obama EPA's Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule should be heard in federal district court and not appellate courts, saying the “plain meaning” of the law mandates that outcome. Whatever the high court decides in the pending suit, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) v. Department of Defense, et al. , will not only...

Industry Groups' Opening Brief

States' Opening Brief

UWAG's Opening Brief


Oregon Case Study

Maryland Case Study

Massachusetts Case Study



NAM Asks High Court To Send CWA Jurisdiction Rule Suits To District Court

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is calling on the Supreme Court to send litigation over the Obama-era Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule to federal district courts rather than appellate courts, in a suit that could help determine which courts will hear expected future suits over the Trump EPA's rewrite of the rule. NAM filed its opening brief April 27 in the case, titled NAM v. Department of Defense, et al. , asking the high court to overturn a...

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