Grappling With Cost Study, EPA Weighs New Delays For Stormwater Rule

摘要

EPA is struggling to estimate the costs and benefits of its first-time proposal for regulating stormwater runoff after construction at housing and other developments is completed, forcing officials into talks with environmentalists over a new schedule for the rulemaking. "Analyzing the costs and benefits for the options under consideration for this rule is complex, given the intermittent nature of the stormwater, the various rainfall patterns that exist across the country, and the many different types of technology and site design approaches that could be used to meet the performance standards," an EPA spokeswoman said in a statement to Inside EPA. Acting EPA water chief Nancy Stoner says the agency is also struggling to complete the proposal because it is seeking to build more flexible compliance mechanisms into the regulation to address municipalities' concerns. EPA officials have said the agency is considering a host of flexibilities for municipalities and other entities subject to the rule's requirements, including allowing states with equivalent stormwater programs to regulate in lieu of EPA, allowing as much as 30 years for industry to implement costly retrofits, creating separate planning or permitting processes for interstate roads and bypassing a national permitting program in favor of a national list of sites that must comply with the post-construction stormwater requirements.