Clean Water Act & WOTUS

 

EPA Won't Regulate Pollution That Moves Through Groundwater. According to E&E News, “EPA won’t regulate any pollution to surface waters that passes through groundwater. The Clean Water Act regulates pollution to surface water and requires permits for so-called point-source discharges to them. But questions have remained about whether the law regulates any pollution that ends up in surface waters, or only direct discharges. EPA now says it’s the latter. ‘The agency concludes that the best, if not the only, reading of the Clean Water Act is that Congress intentionally chose to exclude all releases of pollutants to groundwater from the [point source] program, even where pollutants are conveyed to jurisdictional surface waters via groundwater,’ the agency wrote in an interpretive statement posted online last night. If pollution travels through groundwater, EPA says, it ‘breaks the causal chain’ between a source of pollution and surface waters. That could affect regulation of pollution from a variety of sources, including seepage from coal ash and manure management ponds, sewage collection systems, septic system discharges, and accidental spills and releases.” [E&E News, 4/16/19 (=)]

 

Fifteen AGs Slam Trump Move To Limit Federal Authority Under Clean Water Act. According to The Washington Post, “Attorneys general from 14 states and the District of Columbia on Tuesday vehemently opposed the Trump administration’s proposal to roll back a regulation known as Waters of the United States, a move they said would end federal oversight of 15 percent of streams and more than half of the nation’s wetlands. The limit on the federal government’s authority to regulate the pollution of wetlands and tributaries that run into the nation’s largest rivers would be a major win for builders, farmers, coal miners and frackers. In comments filed Tuesday before the end of the public comment period, the state attorneys general said that the Trump administration’s proposal in December for a more limited rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act and runs contrary to the Clean Water Act’s objective of restoring the nation’s waterways. The scaling back of the regulation was one of President Trump’s top priorities when he took office, and he issued an executive order in February 2017 directing the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out ‘the elimination of this very destructive and horrible rule.’ But the Supreme Court has already ruled on this issue, and now-retired Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said that the standard should be that a regulated body of water must have a ‘significant nexus’ with other, larger waterways.” [The Washington Post, 4/16/19 (=)]

 

Attorney General Becerra Tells EPA And Army Corps To Withdraw Proposal Eliminating Water Protections - Rule Would Exclude A Majority Of California’s Waterways From Protection. According to Sierra Sun Times, “Attorney General Becerra on Monday joined a multistate comment letter urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army xavier becerra california attorney generalCorps) to withdraw a proposed rule that would exclude much of our nation’s waterways from vital federal protections. The proposal is the most recent step in the Trump Administration’s plan to dismantle long-standing pollution control measures in the Clean Water Act. The proposed rule seeks to repeal the Clean Water Rule enacted during the Obama Administration and replace it with a narrow definition of protected waters. This change would eliminate federal protections for many wetlands, rivers, creeks, streams, and tributaries. Under the revised rule, a large portion of California’s surface waters would be deprived of federal protection. ‘California can’t and won’t go back to a time when water pollution was the norm,’ said Attorney General Becerra. ‘This proposal would significantly harm California waterways and the people, plants and animals who depend on them. We urge the EPA and Army Corps to withdraw this ill-conceived proposal.’” [Sierra Sun Times, 4/16/19 (+)]

 

Environmentalists Preview Legal Attacks On Narrow CWA Jurisdiction Rule. According to Inside EPA, “Environmentalists and Democrats are using their comments on EPA’s proposed narrower Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule to preview the legal attacks they will make on any final version in guaranteed litigation, saying the rule has a host of procedural flaws, breaks with Supreme Court precedent, and exceeds the agency’s authority. In comments filed ahead of the April 15 deadline for public input on the agency’s proposal to narrow the law’s scope, the Trump administration’s opponents set out their key arguments for why the plan to narrow the list of waterbodies subject to federal jurisdiction is unlawful, on both procedural and substantive grounds. EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers, which are jointly crafting the policy, plan to finalize the rule by the end of 2019. ‘[T]he proposal acknowledges that it would make an already bad situation worse and, nonetheless, proceeds based on faulty rationale,’ reads a comment letter filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of 82 environmentalist groups. The groups say the legal basis for the rule ‘could not be more incorrect,’ and that the new standard would fall short of the administration’s stated goal of providing ‘certainty’ on the water law’s reach. ‘There is no reasonable interpretation of the Clean Water Act’s text, purpose, or legislative history under which the agencies can legally move forward with this rule,’ they say.” [Inside EPA, 4/16/19 (=)]

 

Coal Ash

 

Report: Coal Ash Pollutes 91% Of Power Plants Tested. According to Chesapeake Bay Magazine, “Just after Virginia legislators voted to end the storage of coal ash in pits where it could leach into groundwater and rivers, a report released in March revealed widespread coal-ash contamination in 39 states — and at more than 91 percent of the power plants monitored. They include sites in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The report by Earthjustice and the Environmental Integrity Project relies on monitoring data from coal-fired power plants that an Obama era regulation required them to release for the first time in 2018. Of the 265 power plants that were impacted by the requirement, the report found that groundwater near 242 of them contained ‘unsafe levels’ of one or more pollutants from coal ash. It also cited a coal ash landfill in Maryland’s Patuxent River watershed as one of the 10 worst coal ash contamination cases in the country. The snapshot of the industry ‘confirms that virtually all coal [ash sites] are polluting our groundwater,’ said Abel Russ, senior attorney with the EIP and lead author of the report.” [Chesapeake Bay Magazine, 4/16/19 (+)]

 

Toxic Algae

 

DeSantis Stops At UF, Talks Water Protection. According to The Gainseville Sun, “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and state officials spoke at the University of Florida Tuesday morning about the state’s efforts to protect Florida’s waterways. DeSantis, flanked by Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Noah Valenstein, Chief Scientific Officer-designate Tom Frazer, UF President Kent Fuchs and environmental officials, spoke at UF’s Steinmetz Hall Courtyard atrium about his recommended $625 million environmental budget for Everglades restoration efforts and protection of the state’s water resources. ‘We’re happy to be here ... we have a high regard for what UF is doing,’ DeSantis said. ‘We’ve came out of the gate as governor basically fulfilling campaign promises that the water quality in the Everglades (was) something that voters thought needed more attention. I said we would be bold and take action and we have done that.’ DeSantis announced in January his commitment to investing $2.5 billion into environmental efforts by the end of his first term — $1 billion more than was invested to protect water resources in the previous four years. Before he spoke, DeSantis participated in a roundtable discussion with Fuchs and UF student researchers about red tide, issues facing coral reefs and the creation of a new state blue-green algae task force. DeSantis said Tuesday the state is looking for blue-green algae task force members and a governor’s office spokeswoman said DeSantis is expected to make an announcement about it within a few weeks.” [The Gainseville Sun, 4/16/19 (=)]

 

DeSantis Wants To Spend $625 Million To Restore Everglades. According to WJXT, “Gov. Ron DeSantis is pushing to allocate hundreds of millions of dollars to restore the Everglades and battle blue-green algae and red tide in South Florida waters. In an announcement Tuesday morning at the University of Florida, DeSantis said he wants to allocate $625 million to the cause next year and $2.5 billion over his four-year term to improve water quality. DeSantis was accompanied by his newly appointed chief science officer, Tom Frazer, Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Noah Valenstein and University of Florida President Kent Fuchs. ‘Since day one, my administration has been laser focused on addressing our pressing environmental challenges and committed to science-based solutions,’ DeSantis said. ‘We will not take our foot off the gas. My administration will continue to keep environmental protection at the forefront of our approach to leave Florida better than we found it for generations to come.’ Frazer, who was a professor at UF, has an extensive ecology background and supports the governor’s water quality plans.” [WJXT, 4/16/19 (=)]

 

Blue-Green Algae Creeps Back Into The Caloosahatchee River. According to WINK-TV, “An unwelcoming sight is creeping back into the Caloosahatchee River. ‘We read stories about last year before we got here,’ said Becky Nichols, Fort Denaud neighbor, ‘and we were just really afraid about that and not to find this.’ Nichols woke up Tuesday morning to find algae in the Caloosahatchee River. She could not help but think the worst. ‘It’s very concerning,’ Nichols said. She is worried it is the same toxic blue-green algae that plagued the river last year. WINK News took a sample of it to Professor Serg Thomas at the Florida Gulf Coast University Water School. ‘This is the type of algae bloom we’re currently seeing on the Caloosahatchee River,’ Thomas said. Traces of blue-green algae have returned. Last month, the Army Corps of Engineers reduced water releases from Lake Okeechobee in hopes that algae levels would decrease. Scientists said it is also possible the algae could dissipate with more rain. But, Thomas said it is hard to tell if the lake is to blame for the algae at Fort Denaud. ‘We have our own local population of algae that are sometimes cryptic,’ Thomas said. ‘You don’t see them and when the conditions are right, they just bloom.’” [WINK-TV, 4/16/19 (=)]

 

Misc. Waterways

 

Inslee Says He Wouldn't Be Shocked If Trump Runs For Reelection On Environmental Record. According to The Hill, “Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) said in an interview published Tuesday that he wouldn’t be shocked if President Trump runs for reelection on his environmental record. Inslee, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, told New York Magazine that ‘there is no whopper too obvious and large’ for Trump, but predicted that the president would not be successful if he were to run on environmental issues. ‘Nothing would shock us, but would that be successful? No. It won’t be successful,’ Inslee said. ‘The things he is doing are so palpably violative of any sense of health. He’s trying to strip our state’s ability to protect our clean water, he’s trying to take away a state’s ability to protect its own citizens.’ … Inslee, who announced his bid for the presidency last month, has centered his campaign on the environment and climate change. ‘We’re the first generation to feel the sting of climate change. And we’re the last who can do something about it,’ he said in a video announcing his candidacy. The 2020 Democrat aims to make climate change a defining policy issue in his long-shot campaign as he looks to set himself apart in a crowded Democratic primary field.” [The Hill, 4/16/19 (=)]

 

 

 

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