EPA’s Water Headlines Features Clean Water Act News

EPA Launches Clean Water Act Jurisdictional Determination Website
EPA has launched an interactive website to gather, display, and map Clean Water Act jurisdictional determinations finalized since August 28, 2015.  The website demonstrates the commitment to increase transparency on Clean Water Act jurisdiction made by EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) Jo-Ellen Darcy.  The website displays jurisdictional determinations that were issued under the Clean Water Rule and under the prior regulations in effect while the implementation of the Clean Water Rule has been temporarily stayed by the courts.  The website does not display all waters of the U.S. subject to the Clean Water Act, only those for which a jurisdictional determination has been requested.
The website will increase public understanding of the types of waters that are protected by the Clean Water Act.  A key component of making the agencies’ programs more consistent, predictable, and environmentally effective is to increase the public’s access to information about how jurisdictional decisions are made.  The website can assist landowners by providing information about the locations and types of resources that are and are not protected by the Clean Water Act, where such information has already been requested through a jurisdictional determination.  The website was developed in coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and it enables users to search, sort, map, and view information from jurisdictional determinations from both agencies.  The website only makes use of publicly available information.  Learn More.
EPA Finalizes Clean Water Act Methods to Measure Pollutants in Wastewater
EPA has issued a final rule approving additional analytical methods or test procedures to be used to measure pollutants in wastewater.  Regulated and regulatory entities use these methods to determine compliance with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits or other Clean Water Act monitoring requirements.  Often, these entities have a choice in deciding which approved method they will use to measure a pollutant.  EPA periodically updates the list of approved methods to reflect advances in technology, refine quality assurance and quality control requirements, and provide entities more choices of approved compliance monitoring methods. EPA also is clarifying the approval process for alternate test procedures and is making revisions to the method detection limit procedure. Learn More.