The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on March 12 unveiled a sweeping set of actions tied to the energy sector and public power specifically.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the agency will advance the goals of Executive Order 14154, “Unleashing American Energy,” by reconsidering many of the environmental rules issued under the prior administration.
This includes numerous regulations that impact public power, including:
- The greenhouse gas (GHG) rule for existing coal fired power and new natural gas units (which he refers to as Clean Power Plan 2.0);
- Mercury and Air Toxic Standards Residual Risk and Technology Review;
- The PM2.5 NAAQS;
- The 2009 endangerment finding for GHGs;
- The Federal Implementation Plan for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS);
- The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule;
- Regional Haze Regulations;
- The Risk Management Program;
- The section 111 regulations for methane emissions from oil and gas sources;
- The social cost of carbon;
- The Steam Electric Effluent Limitations Guidelines rule;
- Coal Combustion Residual Legacy rules; and
- Exceptional events rules.
EPA issued a series of news releases on March 12 that further detail actions tied to these regulations.
Waters of the U.S. Definition
In addition, EPA on March 12 said it would review the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS).
“Given the U.S. Supreme Court’s watershed decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, it is time for EPA to finally address this issue once and for all in a way that provides American farmers, landowners, businesses, and states with clear and simplified direction,” EPA said in a March 12 news release.
The definition of “waters of the United States” guides Clean Water Act implementation, including whether farmers, landowners and businesses must secure costly permits before they can pursue a project, EPA noted.
The EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in August 2023 issued a final rule that conformed the definition of “waters of the United States” to a Supreme Court decision -- Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency.
The May 2023 decision issued by the Supreme Court that involves the scope of the Clean Water Act and, more specifically, whether an appeals court set forth the proper test for determining whether wetlands are “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The ruling in Sackett v. EPA was based on an appeal by a family of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's ruling that they needed a CWA permit to build a home on their property. The court ruled in a 9-0 opinion that the wetlands on the property are not subject to CWA jurisdiction.
EPA on March 12 opened a public docket seeking recommendations on the meaning of key terms such as continuous surface connection, relatively permanent and the scope of jurisdictional ditches to inform the rulemaking process to revise the 2023 definition of “waters of the United States.” While this rulemaking process proceeds, the agency will provide guidance to those states implementing the pre-2015 definition of “waters of the United States” to ensure consistency with the law of the land, it said.
EPA said its review will be guided by the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency.
