Member Pipeline - Regulatory - Alert (RA 00-14)
To:
Members & Affiliates
From:
National Office
Date:
June 21, 2000
Subject:
EPA Draft Final TMDL Rule
Reference:
RA 00-14
On June 20, 2000, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formally transmitted the proposed final TMDL rules to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for final interagency review. OMB has agreed to finish its review in 60 days; however, because OMB has been in discussions with EPA since the comment period closed, the agency may not take the full 60 days to review the final rules. In response to public pressure, EPA has placed the latest version of the TMDL rule in the public docket. Attached please find both the “Draft Final TMDL Rule 6/19/00” and EPA's three-page summary of the changes entitled “Expected Changes to the New TMDL Regulations Compared to the Current Regulations.” EPA is not requesting comment on the draft revisions to the rule.
The draft final rule responds to the 30,000 comments the agency received on the rule and contains significant changes to the proposal that was published in the Federal Register on August 23, 1999. It reflects the agency's earlier changes that were made public in April and May in letters to the House and Senate, in the Joint Agreement between EPA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and in EPA's recent withdrawal of provisions to regulate certain discharges from forestry operations.
Some of EPA's changes to the TMDL proposal are as follows:
- require that a TMDL include an implementation plan that defines specific steps to be taken to restore polluted waters on a specific schedule;
- require that implementation plans provide a demonstration, or 'reasonable assurance,' that measures to reduce pollution from nonpoint sources will be implemented;
- States must develop TMDLs as expeditiously as practicable, at an even pace, but not later than 10 years after the first listing of a polluted waterbody (starting with 1998 lists), unless EPA grants an up to 5 year extension of schedules where establishment of TMDLs within 10 years is not practicable in a specific State;
- require that where both point and nonpoint sources are controlled, a schedule provides that nonpoint controls be installed within the term of the point source permit implementing the wasteload allocations;
- require that where only nonpoint sources are controlled, a schedule provide for implementing controls within 5 years when practicable; and,
- EPA must develop TMDLs where a TMDL submitted to EPA is disapproved.
While EPA expects to publish the final rule this summer, the agency's ability to enforce the new rules are being challenged in the House of Representatives. Language attached to the appropriations bill that will fund EPA in fiscal year 2001 prohibits the agency from spending money to finalize or implement the rules. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies is not expected to begin work on its version of EPA's budget until mid-July, at the earliest.
At the White House, President Clinton called on Congress June 9 to drop the “latest wave of anti-environmental riders,” specifically citing the TMDL rider in the House VA-HUD Appropriations bill. The President has not yet threatened to veto the funding measure. However, EPA officials are hopeful that the language will be removed from the bill before it is sent to the White House for the President's signature.
For more information on the proposed TMDL rules or Congressional appropriations activity, contact AMSA's Lee Garrigan at 202/833-4655 or by e-mail at lgarrigan@amsa-cleanwater.org.
Attachments:
Expected Changes to the New TMDL Regulations Compared to the Current Regulations (PDF Format) Draft Final TMDL Rule (Please contact Lee Garrigan at 202/833-2672 for a copy of this document)
For these downloadable files, you must have the Acrobat Reader. If you don't have the Acrobat Reader, click on the icon below to download a copy. After you download and install a copy, return to this page and click on the links above for the downloadable files.
