EPA Unveils New CWA Trading Guide To Replace 'Prescriptive' 2003 Policy

摘要

EPA has issued new guidance for Clean Water Act (CWA) trading programs that significantly simplifies the federal guidelines compared to a 2003 guidance that the agency now says is "too prescriptive," signaling that it plans to give states, tribes and other local authorities far more freedom to design their own trading regimes. The Feb. 6 trading guide, signed by EPA Assistant Administrator for Water David Ross, says the agency is trying to drive adoption of new trading programs beyond what the 2003 policy produced, and says the George W. Bush-era guidance may have inadvertently discouraged trading regimes by setting a litany of specific conditions for their use.