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Trump Hails WOTUS Overhaul as Critics Call for Investigation

/in , /by /E&E News by Jeremy P. Jacobs

President Trump yesterday touted his repeal of key Clean Water Act regulations as more than three dozen current and former government officials called for an investigation into the scientific basis of his forthcoming replacement rule.

Trump told a gathering of the country’s farmers that last fall he repealed “one of the most ridiculous regulations of all,” the Obama administration’s Waters of the U.S., or WOTUS, rule, which defined which marshes, creeks and streams quality for federal protections.

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Water Portfolio Lays Out State’s Long-Term Plans

/in , , /by /Ag Alert (Sacramento, Calif.)by Christine Souza

Farm organizations welcomed a new water planning document from state agencies while they analyzed the document’s proposed strategies.

Titled the California Water Resilience Portfolio and released last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration described the document as an effort to guide water management in a way that works for people, the environment and the economy.

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EPA Lead Proposal, Derided as Weak, May Be Sneakily Strong

/in , /by /Bloomberg Environmentby David Schultz

A provision tucked within the EPA’s proposal to overhaul the way it regulates lead in drinking water—initially derided as toothless—could have far-reaching consequences for public health, municipal policies, and even real estate transactions, water industry insiders now say.

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Congress to Halt Military Use of Toxic Foam Contaminating Drinking Water

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Anna M. Phillips

Congress has reached a deal on a spending bill that would require the military to stop using firefighting foam containing toxic chemicals linked to cancer, but would abandon efforts to place stronger regulations on the chemicals. The bill, called the National Defense Authorization Act, has been the focus of intense negotiations for months. House Democrats saw it as their best chance to force President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency to increase its oversight of a class of chemicals, called perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances — commonly known as PFAS — that have contaminated drinking water sources across the country.

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How PFAS Negotiations Fell Apart

/in , , /by /E&E News by Ariana Figueroa

Before Democrats managed to secure provisions to address a class of toxic chemicals in an annual defense measure, negotiations fell apart at the hands of their own members.

For months, Democrats pushed to attach provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act that would designate a class of 5,000 toxic chemicals, known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), as hazardous.

Doing so would spark federal cleanup standards. Democrats also wanted EPA to set a strong drinking water standard.

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EPA Releases Review Protocol For PFAS

/in , /by /Water Onlineby Peter Chawaga

Contamination of drinking water from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may be the nation’s most pressing drinking water quality issue. With many calling for the expedited banning and removal of PFAS in water sources, a new U.S. EPA procedure to better assess them may be a concrete step in that direction.

“The US EPA has published a systemic review protocol for the toxicity assessment of five per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and is now seeking the public’s input on its approach during a 45-day comment period,” according to Chemical Watch.

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Supreme Court Leans Toward Expanding Clean Water Act To Protect Oceans From Wastewater

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Times by David G. Savage

Supreme Court justices, both conservative and liberal, appeared skeptical Wednesday of a Trump administration argument that the federal Clean Water Act should not apply to sewage plant wastewater that flows into the ground and eventually seeps into federally protected waters, such as rivers or oceans.

The case from Hawaii has emerged as a major test of the federal anti-pollution law’s scope even as the Environmental Protection Agency under President Trump cuts back on enforcement. If justices side with environmentalists, their ruling could extend federal regulation to water treatment plants across the country.

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Carlsbad-Based Seacoast Science Awarded $300,000 by EPA

/in , /by /Times of San Diego by Chrisitine Huard

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday that it awarded $300,000 to Carlsbad-based Seacoast Science Inc. for the company’s efforts to develop environmentally sound technology.

The EPA awarded a total of $2.7 million to nine small businesses in six states, including three in California, as part of its Small Business Innovation Research program. The EPA previously awarded phase one grants of up to $100,000 to small businesses, including San Diego’s 2W iTech LLC, last July. Those recipients were also allowed to apply for the phase two funding announced Monday.

 

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City of Oceanside Invited to Apply for Water Infrastructure Loans

/in , /by

The City of Oceanside was invited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to apply for two separate Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loans. Oceanside submitted letters of interest in early summer 2019 for the Pure Water Oceanside and Lower Recycled Water Distribution System Expansion Project as well as the Buccaneer Sewer Lift Station and Force Main Project. Oceanside’s letters of interest were among 51 others received by the EPA from both public and private entities in response to its 2019 WIFIA Notice of Funding Availability. After a robust review process, the WIFIA Selection Committee chose 38 prospective borrowers’ projects to submit applications for loans, including both projects submitted by the City of Oceanside.

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EPA to Unveil New National Lead-in-Water Standards

/in , , /by /Bloombergby David Schultz

The EPA will unveil the first updates to its regulations on lead in drinking water in nearly three decades at an Oct. 10 event in Green Bay, Wis., according to a person invited to attend the event.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler is scheduled to attend the event, along with David Ross, the agency’s top water official, and Cathy Stepp, the head of its Midwestern regional office.

The agency’s lead regulations, officially known as the Lead and Copper Rule, went into effect in 1991 and haven’t been substantially updated since then.

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