EPA is clarifying its NPDES Stormwater Phase II regulations due to the Census Bureau’s recent change that discontinued the practice of defining and publishing the location of “urbanized area.” EPA has relied on this designation for some small municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) since the promulgation of the Phase II regulations in 1999. EPA is replacing references in the …
EPA is proposing revisions to the Federal Clean Water Act water quality standards (WQS) regulation to clarify and prescribe how WQS must protect aquatic and aquatic-dependent resources reserved to tribes. The proposed rule had been published in the Federal Register, and the comment period is now open. Comments must be received on or before March 6, 2023. For more information, …
EPA announced the availability of $52 million in grants to help communities improve essential stormwater infrastructure. EPA’s Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grants will be used by states to invest in projects that reduce flooding and help prevent contaminants from polluting waterways. For more information, click here.
EPA announced it has achieved major improvement in compliance with Clean Water Act permits over the past five-year period. In FY 2018, EPA and 47 states agreed to collaborate on a goal to reduce significant noncompliance among facilities permitted under the Clean Water Act by 50 percent over five years. EPA is now announcing that this collaborative effort has achieved …
Forest Service is announcing up to $40 million will be provided to Trout Unlimited as part of a five (5)-year agreement to improve watersheds on national forests and grasslands, which are home to many of America’s most important trout and salmon species. Projects include clean-up of abandoned mines and removing barriers to improve fish passage, as well as stream habitat …
The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) filed on open comment opposing the EPA’s proposed rule to designate two key PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances. The current proposal would require facilities to report any releases of the substances that exceed a certain quantity. NACWA’s comment states that public wastewater and stormwater systems are passive receivers of these chemicals and …
EPA announced the selection of twenty-nine (29) Environmental Finance Centers (EFCs) that will help communities across the country access federal funding for infrastructure and greenhouse gas reduction projects that improve public health and environmental protection. The EFCs will deliver targeted technical assistance to local governments, states, Tribes, and non-governmental organizations to protect public health, safeguard the environment, and advance environmental …
Representatives from EPA and the White House Council on Environmental Quality gathered on the banks of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland to recognize the 50th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act and to celebrate the progress made under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and its amendments. In the 1960s, the Cuyahoga River infamously caught fire more than a dozen times, …
With its 2025 deadline a little more than three years away, environmental leaders are publicly acknowledging that the Chesapeake Bay region will miss for the third time a self-imposed cleanup deadline. EPA and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation recently released separate evaluations of states’ cleanup efforts, and both concluded the region is not on track to reduce the amount of water-fouling …
This week EPA announced two new online tools available to the public that provide additional information on environmental enforcement and compliance in their communities. The Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) tool allows individuals to search for facilities to assess their compliance with environmental regulations. The Benzene Fenceline Monitoring Dashboard improves public access to program data concerning benzene emissions along …
This week EPA released twenty (20) Climate Adaptation Implementation Plans that were developed by its major offices, including national program offices and all ten (10) regional offices. These plans provide details on the specific actions each office will take to protect human health and the environment, to increase the resilience of the entire nation, and to ensure clean air, water, …
The future of federal jurisdiction over waters and wetlands under the Clean Water Act hinges on a watershed US Supreme Court case scheduled for oral arguments Monday. The case of Sackett v. EPA centers on a long-standing argument over the definition of “waters of the U.S.,” a term included in the act to describe which bodies of water are subject …
NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) is announcing $11M in Fiscal Year 2022 to fund eighteen (18) coastal resilience research projects across the nation. The complex challenges of sea level rise, coastal flooding, and increased storm frequency pose increasing risks to communities and their surrounding ecosystems. For more information, please visit: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/sep22/coastal-resilience-research.html
EPA will exercise its “residual designation authority” to require permit coverage for stormwater discharges from unregulated stormwater pollution sources in the Charles, Mystic, and Neponset River watersheds. The EPA Clean Water Act permit will pertain to certain commercial, industrial, and institutional properties with one or more acres of impervious area. One or more general permits specifying the required stormwater reduction …
EPA is hosting a series of public meetings to inform updates to the industrial stormwater fact sheet series, which provide guidance to each of the 29 industrial sectors covered under the Multi-Sector General Permit. Each fact sheet describes the types of facilities included in the sector, typical pollutants associated with the sector, and types of stormwater control measures used to …
