Environmental Regulatory Updates: WOTUS and EPA Focus 2017-2019

by | Oct 17, 2015 | Blog |

We’ll use this space this week to provide a couple of very brief updates: one relating to a stay to a major water regulation and the other providing some insight regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) plans for the next few years.

WOTUS Update

First, we’ll give you the latest on the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) issue. By now you know that a stay has been ordered on the WOTUS ruling. As we mentioned in our June 29th blog, we had some serious concerns about the ruling that was published earlier this year. We, as well as many others, found the final WOTUS rule more confusing than clarifying. It’s interesting to note the language in the stay, in part, seems to echo some of these concerns, “A stay temporarily silences the whirlwind of confusion that springs from uncertainty about the requirements of the new Rule and whether they will survive legal testing.”

As an aside, several years ago, our senior hydrogeologist, Dr. Michael Sklash, provided technical input in one of the oft-cited WOTUS cases: Rapanos (US Supreme Court). As to the future of WOTUS and clarifying the definition of what is/is not regulated, we suspect more legal cases are forthcoming. What we are not expecting is environmental groups to raise a white flag. At the time of this writing, we have not seen any press releases or formal statements by groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council (who had expressed strong support for the WOTUS rule).

EPA Focus 2017-2019

The second item relates to an announcement by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Every three years, the EPA announces where they will focus their enforcement efforts in the coming years. Recently, the EPA released their National Enforcement Initiatives for 2017-2019. The six areas where the EPA intends to focus include the following:

  • Reducing Air Pollution from the Largest Sources
  • Cutting Hazardous Air Pollutants
  • Ensuring Energy Extraction Activities Comply with Environmental Laws
  • Reducing Pollution from Mineral Processing Operations
  • Keeping Raw Sewage and Contaminated Stormwater Out of Our Nation’s Waters
  • Preventing Animal Waste from Contaminating Surface and Ground Water
EPA's Environmental Enforcement Initiatives

The US EPA has released their National Enforcement Initiatives for 2017-2019. What does this mean for the regulated community (Image Credit: USEPA)?

How will this play out in the real world? Who knows. We’ve seen many of these initiatives in the past. I tend to view these triennial goals as more administrative in nature (and perhaps some saber rattling) than anything.

With that said, it’s worth noting that if you go to the EPA website, you will also find that they provide a list of “sample cases” of environmental enforcement, including some that highlight EPA’s focus on Environmental Justice (EJ). You can read about one of the cases (a Large Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) that had an EJ component here.

As for the more short-term objectives of the EPA, we previously shared their plans for 2016 that were presented their Fiscal Year 2016 budget.

As always, we continue to monitor and share regulatory activity as we learn more.

If you have a question or concern about an environmental issue, please feel free to contact me (ahahn@dragun.com) at 248-932-0228, ext 134.