CDP: Waterways Clips: October 11, 2022
White House OMB Begins Review Of EPA’s Draft PFAS Drinking Water Rule. According to Inside EPA, “Facing a year-end deadline, the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) has begun formal interagency review of EPA’s long-anticipated proposed rule to set enforceable drinking water standards for the two most-studied PFAS, a measure that will set uniform, nationwide cleanup standards though it is not clear what form the standards will take. OMB Oct. 6 received the proposed rule to establish a national primary drinking water regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), the two most well-characterized per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), according to OMB’s website. OMB review typically takes up to 90 days, but can be faster or slower, depending on the circumstances.” [Inside EPA, 10/7/22 (=)]
The Climate Law — And Its Billions — Changed Everything. According to Politico, “The climate world is suddenly rolling in dough. Following decades of failed attempts to enact sweeping climate change legislation, Democrats eked out a bill this summer that funnels nearly $370 billion toward climate and renewable energy programs. The huge new cash flow and the fine print of the law behind it are overhauling how climate policy works. “Holy shit, this is a ton of cash — all about building a clean energy economy. And we’ve never done this,” said Sam Ricketts, co-founder of Evergreen Action and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. The new climate law is already changing everything from how consumers buy cars and how green groups are organizing to which policy experts are suddenly in high demand on Capitol Hill and K Street. And nearly two months after President Joe Biden signed the climate bill into law, policy wonks, businesses, lawmakers, environmentalists, administration officials and others are still trying to make sense of how it’s all going to work.” [Politico, 10/7/22 (=)]
National Park Service Awards $2.4M For W.Va. Projects. According to Politico, “The National Park Service is funding recreation and restoration projects in West Virginia state and local parks with $2.4 million. The awards include $900,000 to Mannington Hough Park pool replacement, $750,000 to Canaan Valley State Park trails accessibility improvements in South Charleston, $668,117 to Southwood Park pool enhancement in Parkersburg, $71,500 to phase II renovations at Myles Stadium in Pennsboro and $54,302 to Paw Paw Municipal Park improvements in Paw Paw. West Virginia's U.S. senators, Democrat Joe Manchin and Republican Shelley Moore Capito, announced the funding.” [Politico, 10/7/22 (=)]
Trump’s Navigable Waters Rule Might Save the Clean Water Act. According to Bloomberg Law, “Alston & Bird partner and former EPA general counsel Kevin Minoli examines a US Supreme Court case involving the Clean Water Act that will determine federal regulation of waters and wetlands protected under the act. He says the Biden administration’s stance is similar to the Trump administration’s final rule on the subject. When it comes to the US Supreme Court interpreting the meaning of “waters of the United States,” nothing should surprise people anymore. And yet, who would have predicted that the Trump administration’s navigable waters protection rule would emerge from the oral arguments in Sackett v. EPA as the lynchpin that may preserve Clean Water Act jurisdiction over adjacent wetlands.” [Bloomberg Law, 10/7/22 (=)]
WHO Eyes Less Restrictive 'Forever Chemicals' Guidelines. According to Politico, “The world's leading authority on public health is weighing guidelines for two "forever chemicals" that are far less restrictive than those under consideration by EPA — a move that has already bolstered industry arguments and drawn condemnation from advocates. In a draft document released at the end of last month, the World Health Organization singled out the two most notorious PFAS as a public health hazard that should be monitored in drinking water. But unlike U.S. regulators, WHO's provisional guidance levels would see the cutoff for both PFOA and PFOS at 100 parts per million individually, a far cry from the respective 4 parts per quadrillion and 20 ppq that EPA recently recommended.” [Politico, 10/7/22 (=)]
AP| Boston Officials Report Elevated Virus Levels In Wastewater. According to the AP, “Boston health officials said Friday they’re concerned about elevated levels of the coronavirus in the city’s wastewater. The concentration of the virus in local wastewater has increased by 3.1% over the past week and by nearly 100% over the past two weeks, according to new data from this week from the Boston Public Health Commission. New COVID-19 cases in Boston have decreased slightly over the past week, though the data does not include positive results from at-home tests, the commission said. Boston hospitals had 170 new hospital admissions related to COVID-19 this week.” [AP, 10/8/22 (=)]
Mississippi City With Water Woes Now Faces Trash Trouble. According to Politico, “Mississippi's capital city is still grappling with a troubled water system, and it could soon see garbage piling up outside homes and businesses. Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba announced Thursday garbage collection will cease after Saturday unless the city starts paying a company that has been doing the work without compensation since April. Lumumba and the Jackson City Council have been feuding for several months over the garbage contract for the city of 150,000 residents. The trash clash continued even as most of Jackson lost running water for several days in late August and early September because torrential rainfall exacerbated problems with the city's main water treatment plant. For seven weeks from late July to mid-September, people in Jackson were also told to boil water to kill contaminants because the state health department found cloudy water that could make people ill.” [Politico, 10/7/22 (=)]
PA Lags In Chesapeake Bay Restoration Goals. According to Public News Service, “The Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Blueprint has deadlines for Pennsylvania, and other states in the watershed, to implement practices to reduce water-pollution levels by 2025. The latest checkup on the Blueprint shows the Keystone State is lagging behind. At the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Agricultural Program Manager and Interim Director Bill Chain said they're disappointed the Keystone State hasn't made more progress, particularly in reducing farm runoff. But he added that they're still hopeful because the Pennsylvania General Assembly has passed legislation and made funding available to speed up conservation implementation on farms.” [Public News Service, 10/11/22 (=)]
A California City’s Water Supply Is Expected To Run Out In Two Months. According to the Washington Post, “The residents of this sun-scorched city feel California’s endless drought when the dust lifts off the brown hills and flings grit into their living rooms. They see it when they drive past almond trees being ripped from the ground for lack of water and the new blinking sign at the corner of Elm and Cherry warning: “No watering front yard lawns.” The fire chief noticed it when he tested hydrants in August — a rare occurrence as Coalinga desperately seeks to conserve water — and the first one shot out a foot-long block of compacted dirt. The second one ejected like a can of Axe body spray.” [Washington Post, 10/10/22 (=)]
MI Environmental Groups Oppose Oil Pipeline Project Under Great Lakes. According to Public News Service, “The long-running feud between Canadian energy giant Enbridge and a coalition of Michigan environmentalists and tribal nations has reached another milestone. Enbridge is proposing to build a tunnel to carry an oil pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac, which connects Lake Michigan with Lake Huron. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently held three "scoping" meetings as part of evaluating the project's environmental impact. Enbridge maintains the project known as Line 5 is safe and vital to the region's economy. Sean McBrearty, campaign coordinator for the environmental group Oil and Water Don't Mix, said digging a tunnel for an oil pipeline under the Great Lakes is a recipe for disaster.” [Public News Service, 10/10/22]
Hill Energy Briefing: Mountain Valley Pipeline Consult Flagged. According to Bloomberg Law, “A coalition of environmental groups claimed federal officials improperly started the clock on consultation for a permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, raising concerns about transparency around the proposed natural gas pipeline. The change in timing gives the groups less time to submit information before the Fish and Wildlife Service issues its opinion on the environmental effects of the project, the coalition said. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hadn’t submitted a written request for re-initiation of consultation under the Endangered Species Act for a revised biological opinion, according to a letter Friday from the Sierra Club and seven other groups. ...” [Bloomberg Law, 10/11/22 (=)]
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