On April 8, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael S. Regan signed a final rule regulating six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The final rule,...more
Like much of the western and southwestern U.S., California has experienced drought conditions on and off for decades. Fortunately, the regulatory landscape is starting to catch up with water treatment technology, paving the...more
4/11/2024
/ California ,
Construction Project ,
Drinking Water ,
Drought ,
Environmental Policies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Water ,
Water Conservation ,
Water Resources Control Board ,
Water Rights ,
Water Supplies
On November 30, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its Proposed Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI). With this proposal, EPA aims to simplify and expand upon the 2021 Lead and Copper Rule...more
On November 20, with no fanfare at all, not even a press release, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its Draft Guidance: Applying the Supreme Court’s County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund Decision in the Clean...more
11/29/2023
/ Clean Water Act ,
Comment Period ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Draft Guidance ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Register ,
Functional Equivalent ,
Groundwater ,
Hawaii ,
Hawaii Wildlife Fund v County of Maui ,
Hazardous Waste ,
NPDES ,
Pollution Control ,
Proposed Guidance ,
Public Comment ,
Safe Drinking Water Act ,
Water Pollution
A filing in a California federal court indicates that EPA is planning to apply its new Clean Water Act section 401 certification rule to all certification requests, including those that are currently pending and that were...more
ntroduction America’s water infrastructure has long faced a critical need for funding and modernization. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, there is a $105 billion funding gap for drinking water and...more
The U.S. Supreme Court just issued its long-awaited Sackett decision in which it significantly narrowed the scope of federal jurisdiction over “waters of the U.S.” under the Clean Water Act. Written by Justice Alito (with...more
EPA has proposed to establish “baseline” water quality standards that would apply to all Indian reservation waters where the tribe has not received “treatment as a state” (TAS) authority, the state does not have authority,...more
With little fanfare, EPA has finally proposed to approve Louisiana’s Class VI underground injection control (UIC) well program. The proposal to approve Louisiana’s program comes nearly two years after the state submitted its...more
After the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota’s April 12 ruling, the majority of the United States can no longer implement or enforce the Biden administration’s definition of waters of the United States...more
On March 13, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took the long-anticipated step of proposing maximum contaminant level goals (MCLGs), as well as individual maximum contaminant levels (MCLs), for six PFAS compounds under...more
President Biden recently signed the Flood Level, Observation, Operations, and Decision Support Act (FLOODS Act), codifying an important leadership and management tool that helped modernize federal water policy in the United...more
Better late than never, but on January 4, EPA published its Fall 2022 Unified Regulatory Agenda. The Reg Agenda includes a few new rulemaking initiatives and a number of schedule changes that were largely expected since EPA...more
The Biden administration has enormous climate and carbon management goals — which rightfully include the geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide as a core part of its climate adaptation strategy.
Originally published in...more
John Goodin takes a break from his recent retirement to share invaluable insights with Dave and Anna from his 32-year career in EPA’s Office of Water. John talks about the long-running “waters of the United States”...more
Yesterday, EPA announced a proposed rule that would revise the agency’s regulations to include a requirement that water quality standards protect reserved tribal treaty rights. This proposal is a major milestone for the...more
HDR Utility Services Director Trent Stober joins Dave and Anna to close out their PFAS miniseries, focusing on the real-world application of regulatory developments in the water sector. Trent provides perspective on how...more
Dave Ross and Anna Wildeman provide high-level reactions to the Supreme Court's oral arguments in the Sackett v. EPA case, the latest legal battle in a long-running dispute over the meaning of the phrase "waters of the United...more
Anna and Dave continue their Missouri Water Seminar PFAS miniseries with Assistant Director of Engineering-Environmental Compliance Jay Hoskins of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District. Jay, Anna, and Dave discuss...more
The Biden administration has enormous climate and carbon management goals, which rightfully include the geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide as a core part of its climate adaptation strategy. The administration, to its...more
On September 12, with exactly three weeks until the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral argument in the Sackett v. EPA case, EPA sent the latest iteration of a final rule to define “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) to the Office of...more
Dave and Anna kick off a PFAS podcast series taped on location at the Missouri Water Seminar to provide an on-the-ground perspective of how state and local governments are dealing with the emerging regulatory framework for...more
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that Administrator Regan signed a proposed rule to designate two of the most widely studied per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as hazardous substances...more
On June 1, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a pre-publication version of its proposal to re-write the Clean Water Act Section 401 rule (Certification Proposal), which, if finalized, is expected to have...more
EPA released a pre-publication version of its proposal to re-write the Clean Water Act 401 Certification Rule. The proposed re-write comes after the Northern District of California vacated EPA’s 2020 Certification Rule, which...more