EAB Case Sets Up Test For Trump EPA On CWA Groundwater Protections

摘要

A Massachusetts town is asking EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) to overturn a Trump agency-crafted Clean Water Act (CWA) permit that it claims restricts groundwater contamination based on a connection to protected surface waters — setting up a legal test over whether the water law allows such limits in EPA-issued permits. The town of Marion, MA, filed its EAB appeal May 15, asking the board to hold that EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the town's wastewater treatment plant goes beyond federal authority under the CWA, in part because it regulates groundwater contamination from sewage sludge lagoons. Relevant documents are available on InsideEPA.com.