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.

Senators See Bipartisan Support For CWA Integrated Planning Legislation

Correction Appended Democratic and GOP members of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee (EPW) are voicing support for the latest iteration of a bill to codify EPA's Clean Water Act (CWA) integrated planning policy, signaling that the long-pending legislation -- which has support from municipal groups -- might quickly reach the Senate floor this year. Speaking to reporters following a March 28 EPW water committee hearing, panel Chairman Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) said that while there is still...

Utilities Cite Trump Regulatory Orders In Petition To Reconsider EPA ELG

Electric utilities are citing President Donald Trump's regulatory reform executive orders (EOs) to bolster their new petition urging EPA to reconsider the Obama administration's Clean Water Act effluent limitation guideline (ELG) for the sector, saying the ELG's costs and other alleged flaws make it a prime target for repeal under the EOs. The reconsideration petition filed March 24 repeats many of the claims that power companies have made in pending appellate court litigation over the rule, but links the...


Flint Pact Avoids Answer On SDWA Lead Service Line Replacement Duty

A tentative settlement to resolve some litigation over the lead in drinking water crisis in Flint, MI, would require the full replacement of lead service lines and increased drinking water monitoring in the city but leaves unanswered questions about water utilities' responsibility under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to conduct such replacements. The proposed settlement in Concerned Pastors for Social Action, et al. v. Nick Khouri, filed March 27 with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District...

Coal group 'confident' of major EPA rule changes

A coal industry group is expressing optimism that the Trump EPA will “withdraw or rewrite” several major regulations that affect the sector, and is urging a major regional power grid operator to assume such changes as it projects the amount of future coal generation that it can rely on. “We are confident the new Administration will withdraw or rewrite environmental regulations that are causing, or could cause, more coal retirements,” the American Council for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) says in...

Environmentalists Eye Law, Science To Fight Trump's CWA Rule Revisions

Environmentalists plan to use Supreme Court precedent and extensive scientific data to fight the Trump administration's expected revisions to weaken EPA's Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule, saying an executive order (EO) forcing the changes conflicts with high court rulings and the existing rule's scientific justification. President Donald Trump's Feb. 28 EO requires EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to reconsider their joint 2015 rule defining the water law's reach, and to weigh replacing it with a regulation based...

Early Chaos Raises Doubts On Trump's Ability To Enact EPA Agenda

Chaos and infighting at the White House and EPA are raising doubts about whether President Donald Trump and Administrator Scott Pruitt will be able to enact their ambitious deregulatory agenda at the agency, industry, Republican, and environmentalist sources say, with the instability giving some administration critics newfound hope. At the rate the Trump administration is going, it will be in a position to execute its EPA agenda “somewhere around 2023,” one GOP source says. The upside to this, one environmentalist...

States, Groups Clash Over EPA's Great Lakes Sewer Overflow Proposal

Great Lakes states, wastewater utilities and environmental groups are raising competing concerns about EPA's proposed rule outlining public notification requirements for when combined sewer overflows (CSOs) occur in the Great Lakes region, with some commenters seeking more flexibility in the rule and others calling for additional mandates. The comments -- submitted ahead of a March 14 deadline for input -- are based on an Obama administration proposal, but it will be up to the Trump EPA under Administrator Scott Pruitt...

Power Groups Ready Reconsideration Petition For EPA CWA Effluent Rule

Power sector groups are readying an administrative petition urging EPA to reconsider its Clean Water Act (CWA) effluent rule for power plants, setting the stage for the Trump administration to potentially agree with the request and try to short-circuit litigation over the Obama-era rule that industry has charged lacks a scientific justification. The Department of Justice (DOJ) says the petition is expected to be filed by March 24, according to a recent deadline extension motion that it filed with the...


Trump's 'two-for-one' order nets EPA rules despite industry caution

Several EPA rules are already tied up in President Donald Trump's deregulatory order, which, among other things, requires EPA and other agencies to “identify” two rules for repeal for every new regulation proposed, despite calls from industry groups to de-emphasize the requirement and challenges from environmentalists who say it is unlawful. According to recent reports in Inside EPA , rules where the order's 2-for-1 requirement is already being felt include pending air toxics proposals for yeast manufacturing and certain pulp...

EPA wins extension of Pebble Mine settlement talks

EPA and mining companies have won approval from a federal district judge to extend settlement talks in litigation over the agency's proposed Clean Water Act (CWA) “veto” of the planned Pebble Mine project in Alaska, after the parties said more time is needed following “substantial progress” in talks between career staff, administration officials and industry. The extension means parties in Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP) v. EPA, et al. , have until May 4 to reach a settlement on the company's...

Water Resources Control Board Supplemental Brief

Industry Brief


Environmentalists seek details on EPA's CWA rule outreach to states

Environmentalists are pressing EPA for details on the agency's outreach to states and other stakeholders regarding its nascent effort to rework or withdraw the Obama-era Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule, charging that officials seem to be using “closed-door meetings” to set the stage for a rule that would weaken the water law's protections. The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed a March 22 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with EPA seeking records from the agency's implementation of President...

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