Clean Water Act

 

NWPR & WOTUS

 

EPA, Corps Ask More Courts To Remand Trump WOTUS Rule. According to InsideEPA, “As part of its plan to revise the Trump-era definition of ‘waters of the United States’ (WOTUS), EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are asking federal district courts in South Carolina, New Mexico and northern California to remand the rule without vacatur, though environmentalist plaintiffs are opposing the requests. The new requests to the three district courts make essentially the same argument the agencies first made June 9 to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, in Conservation Law Foundation v. EPA, et al., where the Biden administration first outlined its rulemaking plan to address the scope of the Clean Water Act. Approximately a dozen lawsuits over the Trump-era WOTUS rule, also known as the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR), are pending in federal district courts around the country, and similar filings from EPA and the Corps are expected in all of them in the coming weeks. In a June 21 request to the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina in South Carolina Coastal Conservation League (SCCCL), et al. v. Regan, et al., the agencies say that because they have decided to commence a new rulemaking to revise or replace the Trump-era rule, a remand would avoid potentially unnecessary litigation over the NWPR.” [InsideEPA, 6/25/21 (=)]

 

Greens Unconvinced By Biden Administration's WOTUS Vows. According to Politico, “The Biden administration may have announced plans to reverse the Trump-era rollback of Clean Water Act protections earlier this month, but environmentalists who staunchly opposed that rule say EPA and the Army Corps are not moving aggressively enough. Greens and leading Democrats are livid that the Biden EPA is poised to leave the Trump rule on the books for months — a pace that stands to allow hundreds, potentially thousands, more projects to proceed without federal water permitting requirements, including mines, oil and gas pipelines, suburban housing developments and others. ‘I don’t consider that acceptable. The damage is irreversible. In the two to three years it takes agencies to write a [new] rule — I have very little patience with bureaucracy — the amount of destruction could be extraordinary,’ House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Peter DeFazio (D-Oreg.) said at a hearing Thursday with the top political official overseeing the Army Corps of Engineers. On June 9, EPA and the Army announced their ‘intent to initiate a new rulemaking process that restores the protections in place prior to the 2015 [Waters of the U.S.] implementation,’ as well as plans to develop a new rule defining which waterways are subject to federal regulation. But the agencies have offered no timeline for repealing the Trump administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule, and have left it on the books in the meantime. They didn’t even list the action on the administration’s long-term regulatory agenda issued earlier this month, which forecasts actions planned for the next year.” [Politico, 6/25/21 (=)]

 

Water Pollution

 

Toxic Algae

 

Judge Upholds Trump EPA Approval Of Controversial Nutrient Standards. According to InsideEPA, “A federal judge has upheld the Trump EPA’s approval of Missouri’s Clean Water Act nutrient limit for lakes, affirming an approach that many have said could shape how other states address the issue by allowing them to assess the pollutants’ effect on waters before addressing any adverse effects rather than setting protective limits. In a ruling issued earlier this month, Senior Judge Nanette K. Laughrey of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri ruled in Missouri Coalition for the Environment Foundation (MCE) v. Wheeler that although the agency’s shift in position is hard to understand, EPA has supplied a rational basis for its final decision that meets the Administrative Procedure Act’s (APA) test for lawful decisions. ‘[T]he Court finds the Coalition has not met its burden of demonstrating that the agency’s decision to approve the State’s water quality standards was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or not in accordance with law,’ she wrote. The debate over how to set nutrient water quality standards (WQS) in Missouri drew national attention, with both environmentalists and industry saying EPA’s approval of Missouri’s approach could shape how other states address the issue. At issue are EPA-approved water quality criteria that combine a numeric limit on chlorophyll-a with screening levels for that nutrient as well as for total nitrogen and total phosphorous. The screening levels trigger review of potential water quality impacts that could signal impairment, such as fish kills or high cyanobacteria counts.” [InsideEPA, 6/25/21 (=)]

 

Amid Transparency Concerns, Palm Beach Will Seek To Conduct Own Water Tests. According to Palm Beach Daily News, “The town will ask to conduct its own tests at West Palm Beach’s water treatment plant when officials from the neighboring municipalities meet next week, Town Manager Kirk Blouin said Thursday. Amid transparency concerns that were heightened Wednesday after the town learned that the city had received a warning letter on Tuesday from the Florida Department of Health over its handling of recent water problems, Blouin said he was hoping to hold the city accountable after it delayed notifying its water customers that a dangerous toxin was found last month in its water supply. West Palm Beach provides water to 120,000 of its own residents plus those in Palm Beach and South Palm Beach. ‘People just want the truth, whatever that is,’ Blouin said. ‘That’s the bare minimum.’ Tuesday’s warning letter, sent to Poonam Kalkat, West Palm Beach’s director of public utilities, listed four possible violations concerning the toxin cylindrospermopsin that was detected last month in the city’s water supply. Cylindrospermopsin, which is produced by blue-green algae, first was detected in low levels May 3, and subsequent test results returned May 19 and 20 were above a threshold considered harmful for vulnerable populations, according to Kalkat.” [Palm Beach Daily News, 6/26/21 (=)]

 

Western Water

 

House Lawmakers To Review Bipartisan Drought Bills . According to E&E News, “Lawmakers on a House panel will be up to their necks in water-related legislation tomorrow, including multiple bills seeking to boost supplies for the drought-stricken West. The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife will consider legislation to authorize environmental mitigation projects at the shrinking Salton Sea in Southern California, which poses a significant public health risk, and measures to boost wastewater recycling programs. The Salton Sea, California’s largest lake, is rapidly shrinking due to reduced inflows and a large water transfer to San Diego from the agricultural area. The resulting exposed lake bed creates an air pollution public health crisis when winds whip it up (Greenwire, June 13, 2016). California Democratic Rep. Raul Ruiz’s bill, H.R. 3877, would authorize new projects at the lake, including greatly expanding the Bureau of Reclamation’s authority over the effort. It would also boost the amount of money Reclamation can spend on the projects from $10 million to $250 million, his office said. ‘We need more action to address the pressing environmental and public health crisis at the Salton Sea,’ Ruiz, a doctor, said in a statement when he introduced the bill earlier this month. ‘I am impatient with our progress and will never stop working to strengthen our all-hands-on-deck approach to the environmental hazard at the Salton Sea.’ The panel will also consider H.R. 4099 from Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), Natural Resources Chair Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Water, Oceans and Wildlife Subcommittee Chair Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) to establish a new $750 million federal grant program for recycling projects. Napolitano chairs the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment (E&E Daily, June 25).” [E&E News, 6/28/21 (=)]

 

How Much Water Goes Into Oil Fracking In Drought-Stricken California? According to Laramie Morning Tribune, “When California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to ban hydraulic fracturing, a highly controversial method of oil and gas production more widely known as fracking, he focused primarily on climate change impacts. He may have a water conservation argument to make as well. ‘Fracking uses a lot of water,’ said Hollin Kretzmann, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit environmentalist group. ‘But if you talk to the oil industry, they’ll say, ‘It’s not that big a chunk of water, look at what agriculture uses.’ But when we’re talking about water issues and the drought, it’s a very localized issue.’ The practice of fracking entails injecting large amounts of water, sand and chemicals deep underground at high pressures in an attempt to crack open rock layers and release oil or gas trapped inside. In addition to local air and water pollution, fracking has also been linked to climate change as the practice leads to the release of large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Most of the fracking in California is done in the Central Valley. ‘We’re already talking about a region with limited resources to begin with, so to allot any water to the oil industry when we need to move away from fossil fuels anyway is very short sighted,’ Kretzmann said.” [Laramie Morning Tribune, 6/28/21 (+)]

 

Misc. Waterways

 

Wild & Scenic Designations For NM Rivers Benefit Local Economy. According to Public News Service, “Rivers, wetlands and riparian areas make up only 1% of the New Mexico landscape, and they’re getting attention this month for their critical roles in renewing the state’s water supply and providing recreational opportunities. There are five major rivers in New Mexico, including the Gila, one of the longest rivers in the West. Backpacker Jeff Goin, who lives in Silver City - the gateway to the Gila Wilderness - said he wishes everyone would plan a trip to a river before National Rivers Month ends on June 30. ‘The most memorable trip I’ve taken, without exception, was down the Middle Fork of the Gila River,’ said Goin. ‘Wilderness in general, and rivers in particular, are tremendously therapeutic.’ Goin said he would like to see the M.H. Dutch Salmon Greater Gila Wild and Scenic Rivers Act reintroduced in Congress. It would designate more than 440 miles of the Gila and San Francisco Rivers as ‘Wild and Scenic.’ A recent study found prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, almost one million people visited the two rivers in Southwest New Mexico each year, and those visits supported at least 5,300 jobs. A Southwick and Associates study estimates a potential increase of at least $144 million in recreation spending by visitors with the Wild and Scenic designation. It also could ensure local, rural economies that depend upon such traditions as grazing, ranching, hunting and fishing can continue.” [Public News Service, 6/28/21 (+)]

 

House Appropriators Seek To Jump-Start EPA Budget. According to Politico, “EPA would get a massive budget increase of nearly 23 percent under a 2022 spending bill released on Sunday by Democratic House appropriators, who exceeded even the White House’s request for the agency. The extra dollars would be infused in programs that are a priority for President Joe Biden and progressive Democrats, including environmental justice work, enforcement, and clean drinking water. … That includes fully funding Biden’s request for the Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Funds at $3.23 billion — $464 million more than fiscal 2021 levels. At the same time, it would pour $62 million into scientific and regulatory work on toxic ‘forever chemicals’ as well as $327 million into grants for treating lead, nitrates and other contaminants in drinking water and wastewater — a $118 million increase. It would also exceed the White House’s request for the popular regional watershed programs such as those in the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound, providing a total of $642.7 million for such work — an increase of more than $100 million over current levels.” [Politico, 6/27/21 (=)]

 

House Interior Budget Proposal Falls Short Of Biden Request. According to Politico, “The Interior Department would receive $15.6 billion in appropriations for 2022, according to a House spending bill unveiled Sunday, a boost of half a billion dollars from the previous fiscal year but below what the Biden administration had requested. … The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management would receive $224 million, $31 million more than the previous year. The agency, which under the Biden administration has focused more heavily on offshore wind power development, would receive $46 million for its renewable energy program, an increase of $17 million and equal to Biden’s request.” [Politico, 6/27/21 (=)]

 

 

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