REGION VI WATER POLICY FIGHT MAY SPUR EPA TAKEOVER OF STATE PERMITS

摘要

An ongoing battle between Southern states and EPA Region VI over how to measure the toxicity of effluents could prompt the agency to federalize scores of discharge permits at wastewater treatment facilities in order to impose stricter requirements because the states are not following EPA requirements. But industry officials are are expressing serious doubts about EPA's authority to take over permits after the agency recently dropped a case before the Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) over a discharge permit that agency officials charged did not adopt adequate toxicity testing measures. States within Region VI's jurisdiction that have delegated permitting authority - including Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas - have until June 30 to tighten their state-level water effluent toxicity (WET) testing policies in accordance with an April 2007 draft EPA guidance. WET is an aggregate measurement expressing the overall toxicity of a treatment plant's discharges.