EPA ENFORCEMENT MEMO RENEWS FOCUS ON WATER JURISDICTION BILL

摘要

An EPA enforcement memo saying that lingering confusion over whether isolated wetlands and other waters are subject to Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction has "negatively affected" 500 water enforcement cases and is placing new attention on legislation that would clarify the scope of the water act. Proponents of House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee Chairman James Oberstar's (D-MN) bill, H.R. 2421, are citing the EPA memo as boosting their calls for passing the legislation to resolve the uncertainty. Critics of the legislation who say it would expand the act's scope and include activities never previously regulated are also redoubling their efforts to oppose the bill in light of the memo. In the March 4 memo, EPA enforcement chief Granta Nakayama told EPA water chief Benjamin Grumbles that the Supreme Court's 2006 fractured ruling in Rapanos, et ux., et al, v. United States - which set two competing tests for determining federal jurisdiction under the water law - and EPA's subsequent guidance on implementing the ruling are having a "significant impact on enforcement" and called for revisions to the guidance to boost enforcement, according to documents released by House Democrats.