OMA Weighs in on Federal Water Issue

This week the OMA submitted formal comments to U.S. EPA regarding whether pollutant discharges from point sources that reach jurisdictional surface waters via groundwater, or other subsurface flow that has a direct hydrologic connection to jurisdictional surface waters, may be subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act (CWA).

In its comments the OMA requested that “U.S. EPA undertake a notice-and-comment rulemaking to clearly implement the Clean Water Act, which does not regulate nonpoint sources in the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program.”

OMA wrote: “The resulting rule would provide regulatory certainty for the agency, states, dischargers, courts, and the public. The rulemaking should: (1) reject the “hydrologic connection theory”; (2) confirm that the “hydrologic connection theory” was not based on a thorough analysis of CWA; and (3) endorse a plain language interpretation of the statute.” 5/24/2018