WOTUS

 

Trump’s Rollback Of US Water Protections Nears Completion. According to Associated Press, “The Trump administration was expected to announce completion as soon as Thursday of one of its most momentous environmental rollbacks, removing federal protections for millions of miles of the country’s streams, arroyos and wetlands. The changes, launched by President Donald Trump when he took office, sharply scale back the government’s interpretation of which waterways qualify for protection against pollution and development under the half-century-old Clean Water Act. A draft version of the rule released earlier would end federal oversight for up to half of the nation’s wetlands and one-fifth of the country’s streams, environmental groups warned. That includes some waterways that have been federally protected for decades under the Clean Water Act. Trump has portrayed farmers — a highly valued constituency of the Republican Party and one popular with the public — as the main beneficiaries of the rollback. He has claimed farmers gathered around him wept with gratitude when he signed an order for the rollback in February 2017. The administration says the changes will allow farmers to plow their fields without fear of unintentionally straying over the banks of a federally protected dry creek, bog or ditch. However, the government’s own figures show it is real estate developers and those in other nonfarm business sectors who take out the most permits for impinging on wetlands and waterways — and stand to reap the biggest regulatory and financial relief. Environmental groups and many former environmental regulators say the change will allow industry and developers to dump more contaminants in waterways or simply fill them in, damaging habitat for wildlife and making it more difficult and expensive for downstream communities to treat drinking water to make it safe.” [Associated Press, 1/23/20 (=)]

 

Trump Removes Pollution Controls On Streams And Wetlands. According to The New York Times, “The Trump administration on Thursday will finalize a rule to strip away environmental protections for streams, wetlands and other water bodies, handing a victory to farmers, fossil fuel producers and real estate developers who said Obama-era rules had shackled them with onerous and unnecessary burdens. From Day 1 of his administration, President Trump vowed to repeal President Barack Obama’s ‘Waters of the United States’ regulation, which had frustrated rural landowners. His new rule, which will be implemented in the coming weeks, is the latest step in the Trump administration’s push to repeal or weaken nearly 100 environmental rules and laws, loosening or eliminating rules on climate change, clean air, chemical pollution, coal mining, oil drilling and endangered species protections. Mr. Trump has called the regulation ‘horrible,’ ‘destructive’ and ‘one of the worst examples of federal’ overreach. ‘I terminated one of the most ridiculous regulations of all: the last administration’s disastrous Waters of the United States rule,’ he told the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual convention in Texas on Sunday, to rousing applause. ‘That was a rule that basically took your property away from you,’ added Mr. Trump, whose real estate holdings include more than a dozen golf courses. (Golf course developers were among the key opponents of the Obama rule and key backers of the new one.)” [The New York Times, 1/22/20 (=)]

 

WOTUS Rule Finally Coming. According to Politico, “The Trump administration is expected to release today its final rule removing millions of miles of streams and roughly half of the country’s wetlands from federal protection. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is due in Las Vegas this afternoon to address the National Association of Home Builders, a group that has fought for decades to restrict the reach of the Clean Water Act. It’s bigger than Obama: The Trump administration has already repealed an Obama-era rule that cemented broad protections for small streams and wetlands and was despised by farmers and other industry groups. The new rule would now replace the previous definition of protected waterways that has been on the books for more than 30 years with a much narrower definition. Arid regions of the country like Nevada would be those most impacted by the new rule, if it hews to the version EPA proposed in December 2018. Under that proposal, waterways that flow only after rainfall would no longer be regulated under the 1972 law. EPA has found that those ‘ephemeral streams’ make up as much as 89 percent of Nevada’s stream miles and 94 percent of Arizona’s.” [Politico, 1/23/20 (=)]

 

Trump Administration Set To Remove Protections For Waterways. According to Axios, “The big picture: It’s the latest move in decades of regulatory and legal struggles over the reach of Clean Water Act protections. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the formal repeal of the wetlands regulations in September. Per AP, a draft version of the replacement rule released previously would end protections for some waters that had been under Clean Water Act jurisdiction for decades. President Trump has touted that farmers are set to benefit the most from the overhaul, according to AP, which notes farmers are ‘a highly valued constituency of the Republican Party and one popular with the public.’ Trump signed an executive order soon after taking office to roll back the Obama-era EPA’s Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule to regulate a vast array of minor streams and wetlands in a way that far exceeds what Congress allowed under the Clean Water Act. What they’re saying: The president told event-goers at the American Farm Bureau Federation convention Sunday the Obama administration’s rule ‘basically took your property away from you’ but he has ‘terminated one of the most ridiculous regulations of all,’ according to Courthouse News. Karen Harbert, head of the American Gas Association, told the Times the new rules would ‘restore proper balance’ between federal and state rules to enable safeguards without stifling infrastructure projects. Worth noting: The overhaul comes despite objections from EPA scientific advisers, most of whom were Trump administration appointees, Politico notes. The advisers said last month the rollback was ‘in conflict with established science … and the objectives of the Clean Water Act.’” [Axios, 1/23/20 (+)]

 

Coal Ash

 

Environmental Groups Cheer Closure Of Coal Ash Pits. According to Gaston Gazette, “Environmental groups are seeing the closure of the Duke Energy of the coal ash pits as a big win for clean water in the area. At the beginning of the year, Duke Energy announced that a settlement agreement to close and cleanup the remaining coal ash pits in North Carolina had been reached. Including two ash pits still at the Cliffside plant. ‘Great victory for clean water across North Carolina to start off 2020,’ said Broad River Keeper David Caldwell. ‘Thank goodness it happened not just for the Broad River, but for rivers everywhere.’ Caldwell has worked to convince Duke Power and the state to realize what coal ash does to waterways over the past decade. He has been in communication with the power company about the excavation of the pits, so he can keep others informed. There are approximately eight million tons of coal ash being stored in two unlined, leaking basins at the Cliffside facility. The leaks are contaminating both groundwater and surface water, Caldwell said. The ‘active’ ash basin is currently being drained of water and soon excavation of all of the ash in the two basins will begin. The national power company must adhere to a cleanup plan set forth by the Department of Environmental Quality. Under the agreement, seven of the basins will be excavated with ash moved to lined landfills, including two at the Allen Steam Station in Belmont, one at Belews Creek Steam Station in Belews Creek, one at Mayo Plant in Roxboro, one basin at the Roxboro Plant in Semora, and two at the Cliffside/Rogers Energy Complex in Mooresboro.” [Gaston Gazette, 1/22/20 (=)]

 

Five States Raise Alarms About EPA Coal-Fired Power Plant Waste Disposal Proposal. According to The Hill, “Attorneys general from five states have raised objections to an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rollback of Obama-era regulations that stipulate how coal-fired power plants dispose of waste containing arsenic, lead and mercury. The lawyers representing Maryland, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, and Vermont expressed concerns about the proposed changes, which would weaken rules dealing with the residue from burning coal, called coal ash, in a Tuesday comment addressed to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. ‘When power plants burn coal, the resulting waste—coal combustion residuals, or coal ash—includes a host of toxic chemicals, such as arsenic, lead, and mercury,’ they wrote. ‘These chemicals pose numerous dangers to human health, including cancer, cardiovascular effects, and neurological effects.’ Their comment acknowledged that states are free to impose stricter regulations than the federal government, but noted that waters within their borders are connected to out-of-state waters and could be tainted by pollution produced in those states. ‘Our states thus rely on federal regulation to ensure a stable nationwide regulatory floor protecting against pollution crossing our borders,’ the attorneys general wrote. An EPA official told The Hill in an email that the agency ‘will consider all timely filed public comments as part of the rulemaking process.’ The agency has previously defended the proposed changes as supporting ‘the Trump Administration’s commitment to responsible, reasonable regulations by taking a commonsense approach, which also protects public health and the environment.’” [The Hill, 1/22/20 (=)]

 

Five States Pressure EPA To Close Toxic Coal Ash Dumps Sooner. According to Bloomberg Environment, “Extending deadlines to comply with regulations to dispose of coal ash will worsen water pollution near ash ponds and landfills, five attorneys general said in a statement Wednesday. Attorneys general from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, and Vermont sent comments to the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday. They argued the agency’s proposed revision to federal coal ash disposal laws (RIN:2050-AH10), which would allow disposal facilities more time to accept waste before permanently closing, wouldn’t be protective enough. The EPA is rewriting its 2015 coal ash disposal rule after environmental and industry groups challenged the rule in court....” [Bloomberg Environment, 1/22/20 (=)]

 

Toxic Algae

 

Florida Lawmakers Advance Fight Against Blue-Green Algae. According to Associated Press, “The scum of blue-green algae was so thick and invasive in Florida two years ago that it suffocated fish by the thousands. Birds dropped dead. And people stayed out of the water. Offshore, a toxic swarm of rust-colored flecks known as red tide killed manatees, dolphins, sea turtles and other aquatic animals, their carcasses washing ashore on beaches. It was a one-two punch that startled environmentalists and underscored the urgency now propelling efforts in Florida’s Capitol to act against algal blooms in lakes and coastal waters. In Tallahassee, a package of proposals is wending its way through legislative committees that attempts to better control pollutant-laden runoff that nourish the blue-green algae, risking environmental havoc on ponds, lakes and the state’s prized Everglades. ‘For the last eight years, we’ve done nothing,’ said Sen. Debbie Mayfield. Mayfield is sponsoring a bill that would enact recommendations from a blue-green algae task force impaneled by Gov. Ron DeSantis after he took office last year. An appropriations subcommittee she chairs unanimously advanced her legislation on Wednesday. Over the next few weeks, lawmakers will be considering a slate of bills — many of them technical and wonky — that would give the state Department of Environmental Protection new laws to add to its arsenal of rules to reduce pollutants flowing into waterways. That includes stricter rules on septic tanks, storm drains and fertilizer runoff from farms and residential lawns.” [Associated Press, 1/22/20 (=)]

 

PFAS

 

Tap Water Samples Show Widespread PFAS Contamination. According to E&E News, “An environmental watchdog group found toxic chemicals in drinking water in more than a dozen major U.S. cities, sparking concern that the contamination in public waterways is more widespread than previously thought. In a new report, the Environmental Working Group sampled tap water from 44 places in 31 states and the District of Columbia, and all but one location was found to contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. PFAS is a class of more than 5,000 chemicals that were once championed for their nonstick properties in cookware and waterproof clothing but are now linked to multiple health problems, such as some cancers and high cholesterol. Because these ‘forever chemicals’ don’t break down, they persist in the environment and can contaminate drinking water. Major metropolitan areas where high levels of PFAS were found include Miami, Philadelphia and New Orleans. ‘People should be outraged that this contamination is so widespread and so common in drinking water,’ EWG senior scientist and co-author of the report David Andrews said. The highest levels of PFAS were found in Brunswick County, N.C., at 185 parts per trillion, and the Quad Cities in Iowa, at 109 ppt. A drop of water in an Olympic-sized pool is equivalent to 1 ppt. While EPA has no drinking water standard for the chemicals, the agency has a health advisory for two of the most studied types of PFAS — PFOA and PFOS — at 70 ppt. The contamination in Brunswick is more than double the health advisory levels for both types.” [E&E News, 1/22/20 (=)]

 

People In 43 Us Cities Are Drinking Toxic "Forever Chemicals" In Their Tap Water, Tests Show. According to BuzzFeed, “Dozens of cities nationwide — including Miami, Philadelphia, and New Orleans — have toxic ‘forever chemicals’ in their drinking water, an environmental group reported on Wednesday. Such long-lived ‘fluorinated’ PFAS chemicals (short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) have emerged in the last decade as a wider pollution concern because of some evidence of links to cancer and lowered fertility. They are perhaps best known from the 2019 movie Dark Waters, about pollution from a DuPont facility in West Virginia. Earlier surveys have linked water contamination with these chemicals to firefighting foams and Teflon, but the new independent lab results, which detected PFAS chemicals in 43 of 44 cities tested last year, point to a more widespread problem. ‘PFAS in drinking water is not okay,’ Environmental Working Group study co-author Sydney Evans told BuzzFeed News. Evans said the group was surprised to see the chemicals turn up in cities as varied as Miami, New Orleans, and Philadelphia. The only place they tested that didn’t have PFAS contamination was Meridian, Mississippi, which gets its water from a 600-foot-deep well. Earlier surveys conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the EWG had not shown such a widespread presence of the chemicals in drinking water, Evans said. Her team tested for 30 PFAS chemicals, including some widely used in making stain-resistant clothing, rather than only the two most common ones. EPA has suggested a 70 parts-per-trillion (ppt) limit on those two chemicals. Some states have set stricter limits in response to more recent health studies, with New Jersey setting the strictest of 13-14 ppt. The new report’s drinking water samples held concentrations higher than those lower limits in more than a dozen places. The highest levels of contamination were found in North Carolina and Iowa.” [BuzzFeed, 1/22/20 (+)]

 

Plastic Pollution

 

Op-Ed: It Is Time For Companies And Governments To Holistically Tackle Single-Use Plastics. According to The Hill, “It is time for U.S. companies and governments to embrace holistic strategies that accelerate the shift toward systems of reuse and package-free solutions and end our throwaway culture entirely. In early 2019, Berkeley, Calif., passed a comprehensive plastic reduction ordinance that not only eliminates single-use plastics, it shifts the entire city toward reuse and away from throwaway packaging. And in late 2019, Giant Eagle became the first U.S. supermarket to commit to eliminating all single-use plastics throughout its operations by 2025. Other cities and companies should follow suit, for the benefit of our planet and impacted communities worldwide. While numerous local governments and corporations have climate commitments, not many are treating plastic pollution as the climate crisis it is. Plastic is dangerous throughout its entire lifecycle -- from the extraction and refining of oil and gas used to produce it to its eventual disposal, often through incineration or landfilling. Communities alongside petrochemical facilities -- often low-income communities of color -- are suffering with elevated rates of cancer, asthma, and reproductive disorders to maintain corporations’ dependence on cheap plastics. Even as petrochemical producers issue handwringing statements about the need to end plastic pollution, they have invested over $200 billion in expanding production capacity in the U.S. aimed at locking the world into decades of increased plastic use. The same oil and gas companies driving climate change rely on the continued use of single-use plastics for profits.” [The Hill, 1/23/20 (+)]

 

Misc. Waterways

 

Trump Team Proposes Rollback Of Desert Protections To Boost Geothermal Energy. According to Los Angeles Times, “In step with President Trump’s push for more energy development in California’s deserts, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced Thursday it wants to transform 22,000 acres of public land in the southern Owens Valley into one of the largest geothermal leasing sites in the state. The agency has determined that the aquifer deep beneath the surface of the vintage Old West landscape of Rose Valley, about 120 miles north of Los Angeles, is a storehouse of enough volcanically heated water to spur $1 billion in investments and provide 117,000 homes with electricity. Yet the decision is sure to set off a new water war in an arid part of the eastern Sierra Nevada that is sprinkled with dormant volcanoes, spiky lava beds and rare species, such as desert tortoises. … Karusas said geothermal production has ‘a relatively compact footprint’ with less impact than other energy plants. But critics believe it marks the beginning of the end of California’s desert protections. During the Obama administration, deals were cut on which lands would be conserved, which would be leased for mining and energy development, and which would be designated for recreation. Conservation groups led by the Center for Biological Diversity are preparing legal challenges, hoping to prevent access roads, pipelines, drilling rigs and trucks from intruding into the Rose Valley and desert areas, at the expense of their unique plants and animals. ‘We thought we had a deal in the California desert,’ grumbled Ileene Anderson, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity. ‘Everybody was happy. Nobody sued.’ ‘Now, the Trump administration and BLM owe us a reasonable explanation — not a political one,’ she added, ‘for rolling back protections we were told would last forever.’” [Los Angeles Times, 1/22/20 (=)]

 

Groups Split On Power Plant ELG But All Doubt EPA’s Cost-Benefit Study. According to Inside EPA, “Utilities, environmentalists and Democratic state attorneys general (AGs) are outlining lengthy, opposing criticisms of EPA’s proposed changes to the Obama-era power plant effluent rule, though they all question the agency’s claim that its plan will achieve greater pollution reductions at a lower cost than the 2015 rule. The recent comments from the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a coalition of environmental groups, and AGs from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, and Vermont respond to EPA’s November proposal to revise some treatment standards in the Obama administration’s power plant effluent limitations guidelines (ELG) rule. Specifically, EPA is proposing changes to the 2015 rule’s best available technology economically achievable (BAT) effluent limitations and pretreatment standards for flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater and bottom ash (BA) transport water, in response to petitions from the small business advocacy office and an ad hoc group representing the electric power sector. Advocacy says in Jan. 21 comments, that it supports EPA’s efforts and recognizes the proposal includes significant reductions in the costs imposed on small entities while maintaining much of the environmental benefit of the original rule. But the office ‘recommends EPA consider additional alternatives to relieve regulatory burdens that do not provide a cost-effective environmental benefit,’ saying the agency ‘should be more cognizant of the cost-effectiveness of its proposed requirements and consider the cost-effectiveness on a unit-by-unit basis rather than based on industry averages.’” [Inside EPA, 1/22/20 (=)]

 

 

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