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The EPA has put the state of Vermont on notice that it must make corrections to its administration of the federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program or lose the authority altogether. In a letter dated September 6, 2024, the EPA Region 1 administrator informed Vermont authorities it had received a joint petition from […]
The EPA recently announced Starbound, LLC, a subsidiary of Aleutian Spray Fisheries, Inc., in Seattle, Washington, reached a consent agreement with the Agency that includes penalties of $168,000 for alleged Clean Water Act (CWA) violations at operations off the coasts of Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. CWA NPDES permit regulations The CWA prohibits the “discharge of […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that almost 11,000 facilities exceeded their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitted wastewater discharge limits and illegally discharged wastewater pollutants in 2018. “EPA has a goal to reduce by half significant noncompliance with individual NPDES permits by the end of FY 2022,” according to the GAO. “But the […]
On January 15, 2021, the EPA published its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) 2021 Issuance of the Multi-Sector General Permit for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Industrial Activity (MSG).
In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s (SCOTUS) decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, the EPA issued draft guidance dated December 4, 2020, to clarify how the Agency intends to apply the decision on a case-by-case basis.
On November 2, 2020, a final rule addressing the Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Electronic Reporting Rule (eRule) was published by the EPA in the Federal Register.
By a tally of 6 to 3, the U.S. Supreme Court found that under certain circumstances, a discharge of pollution from a point source that travels in groundwater before entering a navigable water subjects the discharger to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
As of January 1, 2020, certain industrial facilities in California must provide the cities or counties in which they are located with proof that they are enrolled in the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) governing stormwater discharges before they can obtain or renew a business license. The cities/counties must then confirm on the business […]
The environmental ill will between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the nation’s most populous state, California, has spilled over from the Clean Air Act (CAA) to the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
In February 2019, the EPA’s assistant administrator for water issued a memo updating the Agency’s water quality trading policy “to promote market-based mechanisms.” The memo includes six principles intended to clarify aspects of the federal water quality trading program, provide tools and incentives to states and local governments to implement trading programs, and promote increased […]