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In a lengthy interpretive statement, the EPA takes the position that a pollutant discharged from a point source, which reaches a water of the United States via a hydrologic connection provided by groundwater, is not subject to permitting under the Clean Water Act’s (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).
Opposing opinions by three U.S. appeals courts (two issued by the same circuit on the same day) have led to a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to address the core Clean Water Act (CWA) question—Is a point source discharging pollutants to navigable water via a groundwater pathway the functional equivalent of a direct discharge […]
Fourteen states have responded to the EPA’s June 22, 2018, request to voluntarily submit information about facilities that produce, use, or store hazardous substances (HSs) designated at 40 CFR part 116 (Clean Water Act [CWA] Listed Hazardous Substances), the CWA HS they store, historical discharges of these HSs to waterways, and any state requirements relating […]
For the first time since it issued its Water Quality Trading Policy (Policy) in 2003, the EPA appears to be taking consequential steps to encourage broader use of a practice that seems highly attractive at first glance but that has been constrained because of how the Policy was written and how stakeholders have interpreted it.
With the release of their proposed redefinition of the Clean Water Act (CWA) term waters of the United States (WOTUS), the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are, technically at least, midway in their journey toward replacing the Obama administration’s 2015 WOTUS definition. The prepublication version of the proposal is available here.
In a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Supplemental Proposal), the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) note that their July 27, 2017, notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to repeal the Obama administration’s 2015 Clean Water Rule defining the Clean Water Act (CWA) term Waters of the United States (WOTUS) prompted 685,000 public comments both […]
In February 2018, the EPA requested public comment on whether the Agency should continue to abide by its “previous statements” regarding whether point source pollutant discharges to groundwater are subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act (CWA) if the groundwater has a hydrologic connection to Waters of the United States (WOTUS) or waters that […]
In response to a settlement with environmental groups and a court order, the EPA has taken the first step to fulfill its obligation under Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 311(j)(1)(C) to issue regulations regarding discharges of hazardous substances from non-transportation-related onshore facilities. Specifically, the EPA is proposing to take no action, that is, promulgate no […]
The United States system of providing clean drinking water to all Americans, long viewed as one of the nation’s (and the world’s) premier environmental achievements, has been springing significant leaks over more than a decade. In its new Drinking Water Action Plan, which the EPA describes as a “national call to action,” the Agency sums […]
The EPA has reissued its Pesticide General Permit (PGP) for point source discharges of pesticides to waters of the United States. Authorized under the Clean Water Act’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program, the PGP was first issued in 2011 and was effective for a 5-year period.