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.

Topic Subtitle
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.

Utilities seek EPA guide allowing SRF for smart technologies

Water utilities are urging congressional appropriators to include report language attached to EPA’s fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill directing the to issue guidance clarifying that they can use state revolving loan fund (SRF) monies to support “smart” technologies, such as advanced metering and real-time controls A coalition of six water utility groups sent a June 12 letter to Reps. Mike Simpson (R-ID) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME), chairman and ranking member of the House Appropriations subcommittee on Interior and Environment, seeking...

Group Charges CWA Citizen Suit Is ‘Terrible Vehicle’ For High Court Review

A Washington state environmental group is urging the Supreme Court against taking up an industry petition seeking to reverse an appellate ruling that allowed the group to use the Clean Water Act (CWA) citizen suit provisions to enforce state mandates that are “greater in scope” than federal requirements, charging that it is a “terrible vehicle” for review. Puget Soundkeeper Alliance filed a June 10 supplemental brief in the suit Port of Tacoma, et al. v. Puget Soundkeeper Alliance , urging...

House GOP Offers Series Of Bills Aimed At Overhauling Clean Water Act

House Republicans have introduced more than a dozen bills aimed at overhauling a range of provisions in the Clean Water Act (CWA) in an effort to streamline permitting, reduce regulatory burdens and clarify controversial definitions. While the legislation is unlikely to win support from Democrats or advance in the Senate, the bills target major policy measures where the Trump administration is reworking EPA policy. Republicans on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee (T&I) June 12 issued 15 bills introduced this...

California Lawmaker Agrees To Drop Citizen Suit Provision From CWA Bill

California state Sen. Ben Allen (D) is planning to drop from his bill strengthening the state’s Clean Water Act (CWA) provisions allowing private citizens to enforce its requirements and replace them with language expanding state enforcement, though industry groups that strongly opposed the provision appear likely to remain against the bill. “We are still finalizing the exact language of the amendments, but Sen. Allen (Santa Monica) is committed to removing the citizen enforcement provisions of the bill and instead allowing...

OMB completes review of Corps’ proposed NWPs

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has completed its review of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ proposed reissuance and modification of dozens of Clean Water Act (CWA) dredge-and-fill general permits ahead of a looming March 2026 deadline to finalize them. OMB completed its review of the Army Corps’ draft five-year overhaul of its nationwide permits (NWPs) on June 11, clearing the way for its upcoming proposal. Once finalized, the NWPs authorize specific categories of activities in...

States Express Frustration Over EPA Oversight Of CWA Implementation

State water regulators are raising concerns over EPA’s oversight of their implementation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) amid frustration that the agency is failing to seek their input in ongoing policy changes, “overlisting” impaired waters while missing deadlines for approving state standards and not providing clear feedback on such approvals. The Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA) laid out state officials’ concerns in a June 4 memo to EPA following up on a meeting that the group’s executive committee...

California Senate Passes Bill To Restore CWA Reach Prior To Sackett, Trump

The California Senate has narrowly passed a bill that would expand the reach of the state’s Clean Water Act to include waterbodies that are no longer subject to federal jurisdiction under the Supreme Court’s Sackett decision defining “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), and counter rollbacks of discharge rules under the Trump administration. The measure -- which is opposed by the state’s powerful agriculture sector and other industry groups -- would also for the first time under state law...

ACC Petitions EPA To Scale Back Two Provisions In Biden-Era TCE Rule

Chemical manufacturers are petitioning EPA to scale back two provisions of the Biden-era TSCA rule that phases out most uses of the common solvent trichloroethylene (TCE) relating to reusing byproduct TCE at facilities and allowable discharges into water from these facilities, arguing the rule oversteps EPA’s TSCA authority in these aspects. The American Chemistry Council (ACC) filed a May 29 petition under section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) asking the agency to address the two discrete issues...

States’ PFAS Work Likely To Suffer Under EPA’s FY26 Budget Cuts

EPA’s plan to slash funding for state environmental and water infrastructure programs in its fiscal year 2026 budget is expected to significantly undercut states’ abilities to finance upgrades to drinking water systems to meet upcoming PFAS requirements and may undermine state efforts to regulate PFAS on their own, utility and other sources say. “We knew the Trump administration would gut the EPA staff and funding but hoped that states would take the lead on [per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)] in...

Trump EPA Draws Industry Criticism After Backing PFOA, PFOS Science

Industry-aligned scientists are criticizing the Trump EPA for upholding the Biden-era drinking water standards for the two most-studied PFAS, arguing the science underlying the standards for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) is flawed. The Trump EPA “missed the mark by not removing the regulations for PFOA and PFOS,” Susan Goldhaber, an environmental toxicologist, wrote in a June 2 article published by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), a research nonprofit with a history of industry...

FERC, Highway, Military Agencies Submit Draft NEPA Measures To OMB

Several federal agencies -- including those overseeing energy, transportation, water and military projects -- have sent draft updates to their National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) policies to the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) for interagency review. The types of NEPA measures vary widely between agencies, though all were submitted June 9, according to OMB’s website . For example, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) submitted an interim final rule regarding “categorical exclusions and environmental procedure,” with the policy...

EPA Proposes To Give Texas CO2 Well Permit Authority, Speeding CCS Plans

EPA is proposing to grant Texas primary authority to permit carbon storage wells needed for carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, a potential boon to the sector even as the Trump administration is also canceling federal funds intended to advance the burgeoning technology. Granting the Lone Star State permitting “primacy” could lead to quicker approvals of dozens of projects, given that a third of the 175 carbon storage permit requests currently under review at EPA are located in Texas. The...

Parties Battle Over ‘Irreparable Harm’ For Injunction In PFAS Permit Suit

Environmentalists and PFAS manufacturer Chemours are at odds over how to define “irreparable harm” to satisfy requirements for a preliminary injunction in litigation over the company’s wastewater permit violations, as a court weighs whether to act now to force the company to limit its discharges at a facility in line with an existing permit. At issue is whether a company’s continuing violations of water quality-based permit limits for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) -- which in the case of its...

D.C. Circuit Grants EPA’s Request For Another Stay In SDWA PFAS Case

The D.C. Circuit has granted EPA’s fourth request to delay litigation challenging the Biden-era drinking water rule, giving the agency until July 21 to determine next steps in the case after officials announced they would extend compliance deadlines for two of the six PFAS subject to the rule while reconsidering limits for the other four. In a June 5 order , the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted EPA’s request to continue abeyance in American...

EPA Plans To Delay, Reconsider CWA ‘Worst Case’ Chemical Spill Rule

EPA is planning to delay by up to five years implementation of the Biden-era Clean Water Act (CWA) rule requiring facilities to plan for “worst case” spills of hazardous substances while officials broadly reconsider it, a move that backs industry calls for the Trump administration to scale the measure back. EPA officials briefed the American Public Power Association (APPA) on its plans during a recent webinar, the group said in a June 3 article on its website. The compliance-deadline change...

Consultants Grapple With ‘Due Diligence’ For Biosolids Containing PFAS

Environmental consultants are grappling with whether the application of PFAS-containing biosolids to farmland triggers “due diligence” requirements for landowners under a Phase I environmental assessment due to EPA’s Superfund PFAS rule or if those requirements can be avoided per the Superfund law’s exclusion for fertilizer application. The effects of these legal questions are potentially significant because it could create uncertainty in real estate transactions since prospective purchasers seeking protection from potential Superfund liability are required to comply with the relevant...

Groups Fight EPA Efforts To Scrap WaterSense Amid Energy Star Battle

Water utility and home building industry groups are touting the benefits of EPA’s voluntary WaterSense efficiency labeling program and urging top officials to preserve it amid fears that the agency will seek to eliminate the program much as it is with its voluntary Energy Star energy efficiency labeling program. The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), which represents large municipal water systems, submitted May 27 comments on an information collection request (ICR) on WaterSense to highlight the program’s benefits. While...

EPA Seeks Additional 45-Day Stay In Suit Challenging SDWA PFAS Rule

EPA is asking the D.C. Circuit to again extend the stay of litigation challenging the Biden-era rule setting limits on PFAS in drinking water, seeking another 45 days to determine next steps in the case after announcing last month that the agency would retain part of the rule while rescinding and reconsidering other aspects of it. The agency June 4 filed an unopposed motion to continue abeyance in American Water Works Association (AWWA), et al. v. EPA for an...

Pages

Not a subscriber? Request 30 days free access to exclusive environmental policy reporting.