As many of you know, a several years back the Supreme Court ruled on two cases which have created significant uncertainty as to what waters are protected under the Clean Water Act.  As a result, environmental groups around the nation have been working to eliminate the confusion and restore protection to our nation’s waters through gaining support for the Clean Water Restoration Act - a bill which would remove the confusing term “navigable” from the Act, make clear “waters of the United States” means those water bodies protected prior to 2001, and clarify Congress’s broad constitutional authority to protect such waters.

In a recent article, the New York Times highlighted some of the dangerous results of removing protection from smaller, unconnected water bodies, and noting an estimated “more than 1,500 major pollution investigations have been discontinued or shelved in the last four years.”  The lack of enforcement ability on behalf of the EPA and our states threatens our drinking water, wildlife, and recreational use of our streams.

Congress must act quickly to restore protection to our nation’s waters!

EPA is working to prevent construction runoff from polluting our waters.  They announced plans to initiate national rulemaking to develop a program to minimize stormwater runoff from new development and redevelopment.  Sediment is the primary pollutant running off construction sites and polluting adjacent streams, but other pollutants can quite feasibly be included in the runoff.  Proper installation and maintenance of best management practices (BMPs) can keep runoff onsite during most rain events.  The EPA and states already have rules addressing construction sites, but this proposal will expand those rules and establish specific requirements for stormwater control.  They also intend to ensure consistency and analyze mechanisms to protect “sensitive areas.”  Five hearings across the country are being held to gather public input.  Unfortunately none of these hearings are being held in the southeast.  To learn more about this rulemaking process go to EPA’s stormwater website.

Last year EPA proposed some changes to the construction stormwater rules, referred to as effluent guidelines.  Overall, TCWN was supportive of more stringent requirements and assurances to protect our water quality.  The most discussed draft language was a numeric turbidity limit of 13 NTU.  I won’t bore you with too much explanation of what NTU means, but put simply it measures the clarity of water.  And 13 NTU is pretty clear water.  However, in the final rules issued last month, EPA upped the numeric limit to 280 NTU… quite a change.  As you can guess, 280 NTU isn’t nearly as clear as 13 NTU. 

Another big change was the application of these requirements to 20 acres and eventually 10 acres rather than larger sites, which was initially proposed.  This is good news.  There will most likely be challenges to these rules in the near future – perhaps from both sides.  For now, feel free to check out these new rules here.

On this blog we’ve talked about the rumors of greater enforcement actions (see October 15 and August 5 posts). Now the Obama Administration has put their money where there mouth is and followed up.

What does this mean for Tennesseans? Well, we’re not being left out.  EPA issued a demand letter to the Knoxville Utility Board for illicit discharges (illegal dumping) of sewage from 2005-2008.  These dates are for the years immediately following our lawsuit.

Then yesterday we found out about an enforcement action EPA took against a developer for guess what?  Stormwater runoff to the tune of $350,000!  That is freakin’ huge!

Finally, we’re getting some relief!

Yesterday we went back out to Rarity Ridge to ensure they followed through with their sediment control requirements.  I must say, in the past year we have been out to this site numerous times and it has never been this well maintained.  Don’t get me wrong, it is far from perfect.  There are still several failing sediment control measures, dirt in the streeet, and other issues.  But check this out: