The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week added five PFAS chemicals for a total of six PFAS chemicals to a list of risk-based values. EPA uses these values to determine if response or remediation activities are needed. The five PFAS additions include: hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid and its ammonium salt (HFPO-DA — sometimes referred
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Drinking Water on Tap: Money, Morality, and More with Tracy Mehan from the American Water Works Association
By Dave Ross & Anna Wildeman
Tracy Mehan joins Dave and Anna to discuss his work as executive director of government affairs with the American Water Works Association and the flood of water topics inundating the drinking water sector, including new infrastructure funding, affordability as an environmental justice issue, AWWA’s perspective on PFAS and its associated superfund liability question, and updates…
First Circuit Reverses Its Stance on the Diligent Prosecution Bar
On April 28, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, sitting en banc, overturned its own 30-year-old precedent on the Clean Water Act (CWA), North & South Rivers Watershed Ass’n v. Town of Scituate, 949 F.2d 552 (1st Cir. 1991). Under Town of Scituate, “diligent prosecution” of a federal administrative enforcement…
Supreme Court Re-Instates the Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule
Today, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court re-instated the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) 2020 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 401 rule (Certification Rule). The Court stayed a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which had vacated and remanded the Certification Rule back to EPA without first…
EPA Proposes Federal Water Quality Standards for Washington State
By Dave Ross & Anna Wildeman
In a move consistent with EPA’s recent uptick in oversight of state regulatory programs, EPA has proposed to establish federal water quality standards (WQS) for human health criteria (HHC) for Washington state. The proposal comes less than two months after the Office of Water rescinded a memorandum that directed EPA regions to comply with Clean…
Hydropower Industry Teams With Tribes, Conservation Organizations to Develop Legislative Package for Licensing Reform
On April 3, representatives of the hydropower industry, Native American tribes, and conservation organizations provided a package of proposed legislative reforms to the Federal Power Act (FPA) to the ranking members of the U.S. Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee. The package, which was developed…
Petition for Rulemaking Asks EPA to Add Dams and Reservoirs to Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program
On March 21, a number of international, national, regional, and local environmental and nonprofit organizations, as well as several businesses, petitioned (Petition) the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to institute a rulemaking to add dams and reservoirs as a source category under the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP). The GHGRP requires reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG)…
Innovation in Iowa: Talking About the Future of Watershed Management With Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig
By Anna Wildeman & Dave Ross
Anna and Dave welcome Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig to talk soil health, creative financing, and the future of watershed management in Iowa. They also discuss the state’s ongoing work as part of the Hypoxia Task Force.…
SEC Publishes Proposed Rule Requiring Climate Disclosures
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) published proposed rules on March 21 that, for the first time, would codify the Commission’s expectations regarding what kinds of climate-related disclosures public companies must make in their required filings to the SEC. Prior to now, companies have had to rely on 2010 guidance from the Commission…
Draft 401 Certification Rule Proposal Sent to OMB
By Anna Wildeman & Dave Ross
On March 25, EPA sent a proposed Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for interagency review. Once cleared by OMB, the proposal will be published in the Federal Register for public review and comment. According to the OMB dashboard, EPA considers this proposed…