EPA Wins Mid-January Extension For Deadline To Issue Cooling Water Rule

摘要

EPA and the environmental group Riverkeeper have agreed to extend from Nov. 20 to Jan. 14 a consent decree deadline for the agency to finalize its Clean Water Act cooling water intake rule, an extension that one environmentalist says is designed to give the agency adequate time to revise the rule's preamble and regulatory text. The agreement - which at press time was not in either of two case dockets related to the settlement - ensures that EPA will have additional time to work on the rule beyond the holiday season when many personnel involved with its development are expected to be on leave. EPA had previously been on track to meet a previous legally binding deadline for releasing the rule, but the 16-day government shutdown that started Oct. 1 frustrated that plan.