On July 27, 2017, US EPA and the US Army Corps of Engineers published a Proposed Rule regarding the “Definition of ‘Waters of the United States; – Recodification of Pre-Existing Rules.” The Proposed Rule is a “first step in a comprehensive two-step process intended to review and revise” the definition of “waters of the United States” … Continue Reading
In Puget Soundkeeper Alliance v. EPA, the US District Court for the Western District of Washington held that emails and letters from US EPA staff to the Washington Department of Ecology (Department) describing US EPA staff’s belief that the Department’s fish consumption statistics were not accurate did not rise to the level of a statutory determination that the … Continue Reading
In response to the 8th Circuit’s decision in Iowa League of Cities v. EPA, US EPA held an “Experts Forum on Public Health Impacts of Wet Weather Blending” on June 19 -20, 2014. The purpose was to enlist the expertise of public health officials to “ensure that EPA has appropriate health-based information associated with different engineering options available to … Continue Reading
USEPA has decided not to appeal the 8th Circuit’s March 25, 2013 decision in Iowa League of Cities v. EPA, which vacated USEPA’s across-the-board prohibitions on the use of mixing zones for primary contact recreation waters and “blending” for peak wet weather flows. The 8th Circuit previously denied USEPA’s request for rehearing. The deadline for filing an appeal … Continue Reading
The Ohio State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) recently issued a memorandum to the State’s oil and gas well owners and operators, clarifying that they must comply with the reporting requirements under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) despite a State law that seemingly allows hydraulic fracturing (also known as “fracking”) operations to avoid such requirements. … Continue Reading
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an Order on July 10th summarily denying USEPA’s Petition for Rehearing (see previous frESH blog post – USEPA Seeks Rehearing of the 8th Circuit’s Blending Decision) of its decision in Iowa League of Cities v. EPA. The denial leaves intact the 8th Circuit’s momentous opinion which vacated USEPA’s blending and mixing zone prohibitions (see … Continue Reading
USEPA has reopened the comment period on its proposed rule regarding startup/shutdown issues for Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units and Fossil-Fuel-Fired Electric Utility, Industrial-Commercial-Institutional, and Small Industrial-Commercial-Institutional Generating Units. USEPA is reopening the public comment period to address the following startup issues which were not resolved in the first round of the rulemaking: (1) the definition of “startup”; (2) types of … Continue Reading