60-Day Comment Period Begins
Over the decades, determining where federal Clean Water Act jurisdiction lies has added regulatory uncertainty, delay, and cost to construction projects throughout the nation. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency鈥檚 (EPA) recently proposed 鈥淲aters of the United States鈥 (WOTUS) rule will help construction projects move forward in a timelier manner, clearly limit federal jurisdiction over water and wetlands, and continue to protect our nation鈥檚 clean water. Please contact the EPA today to let them know that you support clear federal clean water permitting guidelines.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing for public comment a modification to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) 2017 Construction General Permit (CGP), which covers eligible stormwater discharges from construction activities in areas where the EPA is the permitting authority. The 45-day public comment period will close on Jan. 28, 2019.
Policy Revisions Track 蜜桔直播 Recommendations
蜜桔直播鈥檚 efforts to engage with the Trump Administration on environmental streamlining and regulatory reform are seeing results. Throughout the year, 蜜桔直播 further developed our relationships with the federal regulatory agencies through increased dialogue and meaningful collaboration. In the following article, 蜜桔直播 provides a snapshot of those efforts during 2018, which touch on some of the most important environmental concerns for the construction industry from 鈥渁pprovals鈥 to 鈥渨etlands.鈥
A recent U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) decision found that critical habitat must be actual habitat for a species and that decisions not to exclude areas from critical habitat are subject to judicial review鈥攁 ruling that many are heralding as a check on regulatory overreach. In Weyerhaeuser Co. v. the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the plaintiff challenged the FWS on its designation of an unoccupied area, not currently habitable to the species, as critical habitat for the dusky gopher frog. The Fifth Circuit court deferred to the Service. However, SCOTUS remanded the case back to the circuit court to determine the meaning of 鈥渉abitat鈥 specific to the facts in this case and whether FWS鈥檚 designation of critical habitat was 鈥渁rbitrary and capricious.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will host webinars on how to use the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) eReporting Tool to submit Annual Reports for EPA鈥檚 Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP); those reports are due by January 30th for each year of permit coverage. Below are the program dates and links to registration and more resources.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently published new resources in Spanish to help construction site operators comply with EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) construction stormwater permit program.
New EPA & Army Corps Rule Will Provide the Clarity Needed to Allow States to Keep Local Waters Clean
A new measure announced today by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will provide the kind of clarity needed to ensure that the waters of the U.S. continue to become even cleaner. The newly proposed clean water rule outlines clear and specific guidelines as to which sites require a federal water permit in addition to state and local water permits, and what needs to be done to protect federally permitted waters. As a result, the new measure will enable contractors for all types of construction projects, from schools to local roadways and other infrastructure, to understand which permits they need and proceed without substantial regulatory delay and additional cost.
February 20, 2019, at 蜜桔直播鈥檚 Headquarters in Arlington, Va.