Guidance recently issued by the U.S. EPA details the Obama administration’s national strategy for encouraging municipalities to utilize existing and new green infrastructure to help alleviate climate change. The EPA guidance document, which was released on February 22 and can be read in its entirety here, encourages municipalities to review local ordinances and planning documents to encourage the use of green infrastructure techniques which mimic natural processes such as the use of vegetation to slow down the flow of stormwater and to capture runoff before undiluted pollutants from paved surfaces can enter stormwater and combined sewer sanitary systems. Such techniques… Read more
Tag: runoff
Environmental Groups Petition EPA to Regulate Runoff from Commercial and Institutional Sites
Ten environmental groups have petitioned the U.S. EPA to include commercial and institutional sites in the class of operations that require permitting under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”). Currently, the Clean Water Act (“Act”) explicitly authorizes EPA to require NPDES permits for industrial and municipal discharges; however, there is no specific mention of commercial and institutional sites. The petitioners have alleged that, while not specifically mentioned in the Act, discharges from these operations could be regulated under the catch-all provision of the Act directing the EPA to require permits for any discharge the director determines “contributes to a… Read more
U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Scope of Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Case
In a break with longstanding EPA policy, the 9th Circuit has issued an opinion declaring that stormwater discharges from forest roads are regulated under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) permitting process. Historically, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has considered runoff of rain from forest roads outside of the scope of NPDES permitting, and it has been left to individual states to control runoff by implementing best management practices (“BMPs”). If the Supreme Court upholds the 9th Circuit ruling, the EPA’s longstanding position that runoff from forest roads does not require permits will be invalidated, and forest roads will… Read more