Federal Environment & Infrastructure News

More Challenges to Stormwater Rules

We previously posted about the court overturn of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that limited stormwater discharges.  It looks like federal stormwater rules will get an overhaul by next year.

EPA recently entered an agreement to settle a lawsuit brought by the National Homebuilders Association, Utility Water Act Group, and Wisconsin Builders Association. These groups challenged rules that established national numeric limits on stormwater discharges. EPA agreed to remove the numeric limits and clarify requirements related to best management practices.

This does not mean the end of numeric limits on pollutants in stormwater.  Anticipate permits for stormwater discharges to continue to have numeric limits, but limits based on state water quality standards rather than a uniform national standard.

Related posts and articles

EPA Reconsiders Stormwater Discharge Rule (CE News, Feb., 15, 2013)

More Reactions to the State of the State

Infrastructure USA put together a nice summary of responses to the State of the Union from several infrastructure stakeholder organizations.

More River Problems

We’ve been covering the problems the drought has caused shipping on the Mississippi River. This is just one issue in the larger context of infrastructure on our inland rivers. Our major rivers are our oldest highways and they continue to serve as affordable pathways to transport masses of goods.  Sea Power has a good article on this issues.

Courts Overturn EPA Rules

Cellulosic Biofuel Mandate

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia overturned Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules setting quotas for cellulosic biofuels use.  These quotas began after passage of a law in 2007 to encourage “advanced” biofuels.

Production of cellulosic biofuels has been slower than projected.  The American Petroleum Institute, which brought the suit against the EPA, argued that gasoline refiners were required to meet a requirement they had little control over meeting.  The cellulosic biofuel producers were getting all the carrots; the gas producers were getting all the sticks.

The court more or less agreed.  They found that the quota was not consistent with likely Congressional intent.  In addition, the rule differed from other environmental regulation in that the group regulated, refiners, was not the group in control of the technology the agency wanted to develop, producers of cellulosic biofuels.

This is not a complete overturn of quotas for advanced biofuels use.  There are more widely available non-cellulosic biofuels that meet the legal definition of advanced biofuels that the agency can substitute to keep up the quota.

Stormwater Is Not a Pollutant

EPA also lost a case in federal district court related to stormwater discharges.  EPA rules established in 2011 limited stormwater discharges into Accontic Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River.  Virginia sued claiming that EPA only has the authority to limit pollutants, not the discharge of stormwater itself.  The court agreed.

So far, it is not common for EPA to regulate stormwater discharge as a surrogate for setting limits on the pollutants in stormwater.  They have used the strategy only in Virginia and Missouri.

Related posts and articles

Court Overturns E.P.A.’s Biofuels Mandate (Wald, M. L., New York Times, Jan. 25, 2013)

Judge: EPA Can't Treat Stormwater as Pollutant (Honeywell, R., Governing FedWatch blog, Jan. 8, 2013)

Around the Nation

Mississippi River Still Threatened by Drought

Though the Corps of Engineers has been clearing rocks from the Mississippi River near Thebes, IL, continuing drought conditions threaten to bring the river level too low to allow the passage of barges.

Related posts and articles

Barge Traffic Threatened on Missouri & Mississippi Rivers (Infrastructure Watch, Dec. 18, 2012)

Drought Still Threatens Mississippi River (Wail, T., Discover News, Jan. 9, 2012)

Mississippi River (Infrastructure Watch, Jan. 7, 2012)

New Rules for Bacteria in Drinking Water

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized revisions to rules that limit bacteria in drinking water.  The major difference in the rule is its new focus on technological standards, establishing a requirement to seek and eliminate pathways for bacterial contamination in the treatment processes  when violations of the maximum contaminant level (MCL) are detected.  It also establishes a maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG) of zero for E. coli and modifies public notification requirements.

Related posts and articles

Fact Sheet: Announcement of Revisions to the Total Coliform Rule (EPA)

New Rules Tackle Bacteria in Drinking Water (Bienkowski, B., Scientific American, Jan. 10, 2013)

PBS Looks at Sewer Problems

The News Hour broadcast a pretty good story about the sewer and water infrastructure problems and solution in Detroit, MI, and San Antonio, TX (and what it costs).  You can see the segment here→.

Texas Legislature Concerned About Water

As the Texas Legislature reconvened, leaders indicated that water resources would be an important issue.  There is a proposal to use $2 billion from the state’s rainy day fund to pay for water resources development projects.  Even some environmental groups that often balk at such proposal are getting on board, possibly lured by the proposal that 20 percent of the fund be used conservation and reuse projects.

Related posts and articles

$2 billion proposed to ensure water supply (Tresaugue, M., Houston Chronicle, Jan. 10, 2013)

As Texas Bakes in a Long Drought, Water Becomes a Focus for Legislators (Fernandez, M., New York Times, Jan. 12, 2013)

Iowa: EPA Threatens Wastewater Enforcement Takeover

The Des Moines Register reported that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has threated to take over Clean Water Act enforcement from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).  EPA’s concerns, prompted by environmental groups, is that IDNR does not adequately enforce wastewater regulations related to livestock operations.

Where Do the Presidential Candidates Stand on Infrastructure?

This posted was amended with additional links on Oct. 23, 2012.

Where do the candidates stand on infrastructure issues?  Diligent journalists and bloggers have been searching for the answers.  The lazy contributor to this blog just compiled a list of links.  We hope you find it useful anyway.

Analysis: Infrastructure and the Election (Adler, B., Architectural Record, Oct. 4, 2012)

Romney’s Goals on Environmental Regulation Would Face Difficult Path (Broder, J. M., New York Times, Oct. 12, 2012)

WHY IT MATTERS: Creaky bridges, potholed roads, tricky politics (Washington Post [Associated Press], Oct. 8, 2012)

6 Energy Policy Highlights from the Democratic Party Platform (Handley, M., U.S. News, Sept. 4, 2012)

An Interview with Mitt Romney (Kudlow, L, National Review Online, Sept. 7, 2012)

Candidates & Infrastructure (Infrastructure Watch, Sept. 13, 2012)

How Obama’s plan for infrastructure bank would work (Plumer, B., Washington Post, Sept. 19, 2012)

President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney talk infrastructure in Plain Dealer interviews (Gomez, H. J., Cleveland Plain Dealer, Sept. 29, 2012)

Dukakis To Transportation Nation: You Were “Dead Wrong” on Romney and Infrastructure (Dellinger, M., Transportation Nation, Aug. 20, 2012)

Candidates and Infrastructure (Infrastructure Watch, July 17, 2012)

Mitt Romney Discusses Transportation Infrastructure in Charleston, SC (investsouthcarolina, YouTube, Dec. 21, 2011)

Mitt Romney: Metro-Friendly Moderate? (Dellinger, M., Transportation Nation, Dec. 21, 2011)

Create a $60 billion bank to fund roads and bridges (PolitiFact)

Our Aging Infrastructure

Our aging infrastructure is getting attention in the news and blogs.  Here is a compilation of some recent articles and posts on the subject.

A Nation Suffering from Neglect: America the Dilapidated (Seufert, S., phillyBurbs.com, July 17, 2012)

Failure to Act: The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Electricity Infrastructure (Infrastructure USA, May 4, 2012)

Sewer Work Starts as Part of $512M Plan (Patch, D., Toledo Blade, May 1, 2012)

U.S. Grid has $107B in Investment “Gaps” by 2020 (St. John, J., Greentech, April 26, 2012)

Virginia, Maryland Punt on Billions Needed for Roads (Essley, L., Washinton (DC) Examiner, April 29, 2012)

EPA: US Needs $300B in Sewer, Water Work, New York Needs $29.7B in Water; Fed Funding Sought (Washington Post [Associated Press])

Why Pleas to Increase Infrastructure Funding Fall on Deaf Ears (Orski, K., Infrastructure USA, February 6, 2012)

Failure to Act: The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Water and Wastewater Infrastructure (American Society of Civil Engineers, 2011)

Failure to Act: The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Water and Wastewater Treatment Infrastructure: Executive Summary (American Society of Civil Engineers, 2011)

CEOs Call for Less Regulation, Better Infrastructure (Murray, A., Wall Street Journal, Sept. 7, 2011)

Returning to Dust: Our Aging Infrastructure (Infrastructure Watch, July 27, 2011)

2 Trillion to Improve US Infrastructure! (Rodriguez, J., About.com, May 19, 2011)

Water News

Water Rulemaking Anticipated in 2012
The Environmental Protection Agency has tentatively slated two rules for final issuance this year, the Third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR3) in March and the Revised Total Coliform Rule (RTCR) in November.

UCMR3 will apply to some water systems. As the name suggests, it will require monitoring for potential contaminants that are not currently regulated. The rule focuses on 28 contaminants and the monitoring will take place in 2013-2102.

RTCR will apply to all water systems. The rule will be similar to the existing TCR, but the indicator organism will be E. coli rather than total coliform. E. coli is used as an indicator of potential fecal contamination, and its presence in drinking water will trigger public notice and additional monitoring. Where the new rule will differ is that it will require additional monitoring for some systems and will bring more attention to finding and preventing potential bacterial contamination, especially in distribution systems.

Kansas to Take a Look at Fracking
The Kansas Water Office is planning to have a meeting about hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in February. There is a lot of demand for oil and gas exploration in Kansas and the state Division of Water Resources has approve nearly all of the 600 applications for temporary water permits it received in 2011 related to such explorations.

Find more at
Despite Drought, Fracking Causes Spike in Water Permits for Oil, Gas Exploration in Kansas
Fracking in Kan. Pushes Water Permits to New High
Fracking in Kan. Pushes Water Permits to New High
Fracking in Kansas Pushes Water Permits to a New High
Fracking Pushes Water Permits to New High
Water Permits Up Due to Fracking in Kansas

USDA Releases Emergency Funds for Response to Floods, Other Disasters

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced it will release $300 million in emergency funds to repair farmland and property damaged by the several natural disasters that occurred in the last year. Missouri will be one of the states where significant aid will be provided (about $50 million), mainly in response to extensive damages to farms from flooding.

Find more at
USDA Announces $308 Million for Disaster-Stricken States

New Rule on Rural Water and Waste Interest Rates to Take Effect Feb. 20

On February 20, 2009, new rules governing the interest rates charged by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for rural water and waste loans will take effect. Under the new rule, interest rates charged to communities meeting the poverty rate criteria will be 60 percent of the market rate and the intermediate rate will be 80 percent of market rate. As before, USDA will determine the market rate quarterly based on a bond index. The new rates will apply to loan commitments entered after May 23, 2008. You can find the new rule here.

As a matter of comparison, the state revolving fund program (SRF) in Missouri charges an interest rate of 30 percent of the market rate and a 1 percent administration fee. However, SRF loans may not exceed 20 years, while USDA loans commonly have terms of 30 years or greater.

Agreement Reached on Total Coliform Rule Revisions

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and drinking water stakeholder groups have approved an agreement in principle on proposed revisions to the Total Coliform Rule (TCR). A major difference between the proposal and the existing rule is that the new rule will place a much greater emphasis on addressing intrusion of bacterial contamination in drinking water treatment and, especially, distribution.

Other articles:
Accord on revising TCR (American Water Works Association’s E-Mainstream)

Follow-Up: Environmental Protection Agency Opts Not to Regulate Studied Contaminants

We previously covered the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision not to regulate 11 candidate contaminants in drinking water. The agency has now published it’s decision in the federal register, which you can find here.

Environmental Protection Agency Opts Not to Regulate Studied Contaminants

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided not to regulated 11 compounds that were part of its contaminant candidate list (CCL2). The agency determined that “Occurrence information indicates that these 11 contaminants either appear to be nonexistent or have low levels of occurrence at health levels of concern in public water systems and regulating these contaminants does not present a meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction.” The contaminants are:

Boron
Dacthal di acid degradate
Dactal mono acid degradate
DDE
1,3-Dichloropropene
2,4-Dinitrotoluene
2,6-Dinitrotoluene
EPTC
Fonofos
Terbacil
1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane

You can find the full EPA announcement of its determination here. Supporting documents are available here.

Department of Interior Taking Action on Offshore Renewable Energy

The Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service has established an Office for Offshore Alternative Energy Programs. This office will be responsible for policy development and analysis, and management of offshore alternative energy leasing, operation and compliance. The department has also published a proposed rule for its regulation of offshore alternative energy.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Issues Final Rule on Critical Energy Infrastructure Information

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued a final rule relating to access to critical energy infrastructure information. This rule addresses accessibility and protection of information about critical energy infrastructure that must be submitted to FERC by regulated utilities. The new rules become effective December 14, 2007. You can see the new rule in the Federal Register.