Epa Drops Plan For Model 'green Infrastructure' Water Permit

摘要

EPA is dropping its plan to develop model permit language to help water regulators incorporate "green" infrastructure into Clean Water Act stormwater and discharge permits and instead will issue more flexible guidance on the issue,according to an EPA official. One source familiar with municipal stormwater issues says that EPA's scaled-back approach to its green stormwater infrastructure initiative highlights the agency's ongoing difficulties in quantifying the benefits of the techniques. The agency's move comes in response to concerns from states and municipal officials that the model permit language could have been interpreted as a mandate for municipalities to adopt the approach and concerns that the agency was unable to properly address regional water differences,EPA and other sources say.