EPA, States To Suspend Some Water Quality Rules During Coronavirus Outbreak
The unprecedented spread of coronavirus and rise in resulting COVID-19 cases has upended nearly every aspect of our world — from bans on social gatherings to turmoil in economic markets. Now, it appears that some of our country’s central water quality guidelines will be put on hold as well.
“States around the country say they won’t penalize water and wastewater utilities for failing to meet Clean Water Act permit requirements due to delays caused by the deadly coronavirus if those delays are justified and documented,” Bloomberg Environment reported. “Delays, for example, could be caused by utility staff who test and monitor water quality — or lab workers who analyze it — being quarantined with Covid-19.”
The Clean Water Act is a major federal guideline governing water pollution, enforced by the U.S. EPA. Since the 1970s, it has served as an overarching mechanism by which the government implements pollution control standards and protects the country’s surface waters.
Even though a suspension of permit compliance would be a major change for utilities around the country, they will almost certainly be expected to treat drinking water and wastewater as close to normal standards as always and diligently document any delays in complying with Clean Water Act permits.
“Jomo Miller, spokesman for the New York Department of Environmental Conservations, said … that the state expects plant operators to make continued best efforts to fulfill all regulatory requirements and document any noncompliance and the reason for noncompliance,” per Bloomberg Environment. “[Shelly Chard, water division director for the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality] said Oklahoma is willing to grant regulatory flexibility with permits provided the utilities document every instance of permit compliance delay caused by the virus and report it diligently to the agency.”
Meanwhile, it appears this type of suspension will extend to private enterprises as well. An EPA directive issued late last week informed companies that they would not need to meet federal standards for environmental monitoring and reporting during the coronavirus outbreak.
“The temporary policy, for which the EPA has set no end date, would allow any number of industries to skirt environmental laws, with the agency saying it will not ‘seek penalties for noncompliance with routine monitoring and reporting obligations,’” The Hill reported. “The EPA has been under pressure from a number of industries, including the oil industry, to suspend enforcement of a number of environmental regulations due to the pandemic.”
As with the suspension of state-based compliance reporting from drinking water and wastewater utilities, the EPA’s move is almost certain to affect water quality to some degree.
“In a 10-page letter to the EPA earlier this week, the American Petroleum Institute (API) asked for a suspension of rules that require repairing leaky equipment as well as monitoring to make sure pollution doesn’t seep into nearby water,” according to The Hill.
With disruption to nearly every facet of our world stemming from the coronavirus outbreak, and no clear end in sight, it’s hard to say how the nation’s drinking water and wastewater will ultimately be affected. And now, with these suspensions in reporting requirements, it appears that we won’t know exactly how they are being affected for some time.
To read more about the rules that govern drinking water and wastewater utility reporting, visit Water Online’s Regulations And Legislation Solutions Center.