PCA, Chamber sue EPA, Corps of Engineers over Waters of U.S. rule

Portland Cement Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and three other plaintiffs are mounting perhaps the most decisive challenge yet to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) final rule, imploring a federal judge to vacate the measure in its entirety.

If the final rule takes effect, the complaint states, “Plaintiffs’ members will suffer real economic harm to their businesses and property values because they will be forced to submit to expensive, vague, burdensome, and time-consuming federal regulations before they can perform the most mundane activities on their property. Numerous industries representing a broad swath of the U.S. economy will feel the brunt.”

Read more.

27 states sue EPA over waters rule

According to the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA), 27 states have filed lawsuits alleging federal expansion over state waters. The challenges say the Waters of the U.S. rule violates the Clean Water Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana filed a joint complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, claiming the rule is unconstitutional. Ohio and Michigan filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, alleging the expansion of jurisdiction includes dry land. Montana, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, saying the final rule would harm states as regulators of the waters and lands. Finally, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, asking the court to vacate the rule and block its enforcement by injunction.

Read more in Pit & Quarry.

Fracking Has Not Had Big Effect on Water Supply, E.P.A. Says While Noting Risks

A landmark Environmental Protection Agency report on the impact of hydraulic fracturing has found no evidence that the contentious technique of oil and gas extraction has had a widespread effect on the nation’s water supply, the agency said Thursday.

Nevertheless, the long-awaited draft report found that the techniques used in hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, do have the potential to contaminate drinking water.

Read more in The New York Times.

Coal ash is not hazardous waste: EPA Issues Rules on Disposal of Coal Ash

The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday announced the first federal guidelines for disposing of coal ash, instructing power plants to implement safeguards against contaminating nearby water supplies. But the agency did not require many of the restrictions that had been urged by environmentalists and other advocates, who point to studies showing coal ash — the material that remains when coal is burned to produce electricity — contains a significant amount of carcinogens.

Read more in The New York Times.

NSSGA: Proposed rule would cost producers immensely

NSSGA President and CEO Michael Johnson released a statement expressing concern over a proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule extending federal jurisdiction over large swaths of land that would be classified as “waters of the U.S.” According to NSSGA, this proposed rule would overstep Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court by removing the significance of “navigable” from the Clean Water Act. The association adds that the rule would impose “immense costs” on U.S. aggregates operations.

Read more in Pit & Quarry.

Senate confirms Gina McCarthy as EPA administrator

After fielding an unprecedented number of questions and coming under sharp attack from several Republicans, Environmental Protection Agency official Gina McCarthy won Senate confirmation to head the agency in a 59 to 40 vote.

Read more in the Washington Post.

U.S. EPA tells Minnesota to do a better job preventing water pollution

Federal regulators have ordered Minnesota to impose more stringent limits on pollutants discharged into the state's lakes and rivers, an unusual step that could threaten state authority to enforce the nation's clean-water laws.

Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

E.P.A. Chief to Step Down, With Climate Still Low Priority

Lisa P. Jackson is stepping down as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency after a four-year tenure that began with high hopes of sweeping action to address climate change and other environmental ills but ended with a series of rear-guard actions to defend the agency against challenges from industry, Republics in Congress and, at times, the Obama White House.

Read more in The New York Times.

EPA Gas Drilling Study: Top Agency Official Optimistic Before Report's Release

A top official with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is optimistic that a nationwide project examining natural gas hydraulic fracturing and potential drinking water impacts will provide comprehensive guidelines to help scientists and the public identify key issues to focus on. But the industry said past studies have already shown the process is safe.

Read this Associated Press story in The Huffington Post.

Industrial sand mining causing regulators to scramble

Finance & Commerce newspaper ran a subscription-only article June 18th about the growing interest in frac sand mining regulation by legislators. The concern is that current environmental permitting laws and regulators are not equipped to handle the rush for frac sand, particularly in southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

In the recent legislative session, two legislators proposed amendments to the omnibus environment bill. Rep. Andrew Falk, DFL-Murdock, proposed adding the condition that frac sand companies pay a fee into an account that counties could use to cover reclamation costs. Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, proposed increasing the aggregate tax to pay the cost of public infrastructure improvements needed as a result of frac sand mining. Neither amendment got very far in the 2012 session.

Finally, the article described how the state departments of Health and Transportation, as well as the MPCA are reviewing their processes and permits to see if they're sufficient enough for the fast-growing frac sand mining.

ARM is monitoring this issue very closely and we'll keep you informed when there are new developments, particularly regarding state regulations.  - Fred Corrigan

Regulation -- like chasing the wind with a net

With the economic troubles that began in 2007, and especially now with a national political campaign underway, there is an intense focus on wrongdoing. Every newspaper, it seems, now has an editor in charge of exposing wrongdoing. There is a visible desire to punish wrongdoers. A desire to stop wrongdoing.

Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription may be required).

Excessive regulation: Tangled up in green tape

The EPA, Congress, activists, the courts and power companies themselves all share the blame for the chaotic nature of environmental regulation in America.

Read more in The Economist.

The EPA's Property Wrongs in America

Imagine you paid thousands of dollars for a vacant lot where you wanted to build your dream house. . . . You obtained all the appropriate permits from the county and state, and then — just days after you laid some gravel — the federal government came in and told you that you couldn't build on the land.

They then told you that you were subject to a fine of $32,500 per day until you ripped the gravel up and planted the lot with trees and shrubs. And what if the federal government's plan for restoration of the "wetlands" would cost some $27,000, a bit more than what you paid for the vacant lot.

Read more in The New American.

EPA: 'Fracking' likely polluted town' water

A controversial method of drilling for oil and natural gas appears to be the cause of groundwater pollution in a central Wyoming town, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday.

The EPA last month said it had found compounds associated with chemicals used in the drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the groundwater beneath Pavillion. Many residents say their well water has reeked of chemicals since the drilling began there and first complained to the EPA in 2008.

Read more at MSNBC.

Attempts to block EPA fast-track of water rule fail

Senate Democratic leaders blocked an attempt by Sens. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Dean Heller, R-Nev., to introduce an amendment to the energy and water "minibus"appropriations bill to stop the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from fast-tracking a rule to expand federal jurisdiction to all areas where water flows in the United States.

Read more in Pit & Quarry.

EPA to retain PM10 air quality standard

According to Pit & Quarry, the EPA has signaled that it will keep the current coarse particulate national ambient air quality standard. This is good news for the aggregates industry because a reduced standard would have required many facilities to cut product, especially in the West and Midwest.

Read more in Pit & Quarry.

Road and bridge building costs will increase significantly without fly ash

According to a recent report by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), road and bridge building costs will increase by more than $100 billion over 20 years if fly ash is not available as a building material. Taxpayers will foot the increased bill.

"Despite it's many documented advantages and widespread use, new proposed disposal regulations may limit or eliminate its availability," according to the report, commissioned by Headwaters Resources, Inc.

Read more about the report on the ARTBA website.

U.S. House passes clean water bill protecting state permitting authority

According to an update from Pit & Quarry, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011. It prevents the EPA from vetoing permits years after issuance by providing clear protections for states' EPA-approved standards and permitting authority under the Clean Water Act.

NSSGA worked closely with the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee members on this legislation and said it would continue efforts to move the bill through the legislative process.

NSSGA will offer a webinar update about the Clean Water Act on July 26 from 2-3:30 EST. Register here.

Senate passes bill that eases rules for permits, reviews

Throwing a nod to business, the Minnesota Senate on Thursday passed a collection of regulatory streamlining measures aimed at boosting statewide job growth.

The effort to speed up environmental review and permitting processes cleared the Republican-controlled Senate on a 49-16 vote two weeks after the House passed a slightly different version.

The bill would make permanent four initiatives Gov. Mark Dayton required in an executive order last month. But it would add two more controversial ones: allowing permitting appeals to skip lower courts and go straight to the state Court of Appeals and allowing businesses to develop their own draft environmental reviews.

Read more: St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Utilities seek delay in cutting mercury emissions

According to today's issue of Finance & Commerce, Minnesota Power in Duluth and Xcel Energy have requested nine-month extensions for coal-burning plants in the state because they anticipate EPA changes  in mercury-emission requirements. The utilities filed the requests with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.

Xcel Energy wants to use the extra time to measure decreasing mercury at its Sherco Unit 3 burner in Becker and correct "spikes" in mercury emissions at boiler start-up. The mercury emissions from Sherco Unit 3 were less than one-fourth the 2009 levels but more than twice the 90 percent reduction target.

Minnesota Power also wants the extra time to measure emissions at its 38-year-old plant in Cohasset.

Both utilities originally submitted their requests in December with the Public Utilities Commission which will consider them this Thursday.