North Dakota Judge Blocks Clean Water Act Updates

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new Clean Water Act rules were blocked in August by a federal judge in North Dakota. The EPA says the temporary injunction from U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson applies only to North Dakota and 12 other states (Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota and Wyoming). The EPA says it will continue to enforce the rule in the rest of the country. The North Dakota case is one of 10 cases pending across the country, affecting a total of 29 states.

Designed to clear up confusion over various court rulings on challenges to the 1972 Clean Water Act that put into doubt what waters were under jurisdiction of the law, the revisions seemed to increase the uncertainty. Opponents of the rule, on their “Ditch the Rule” website, call it a federal land grab that would “immensely” expand the EPA’s jurisdiction and cover puddles, ponds, ditches, dry streams, groundwater and isolated wetlands. In response, the EPA started its own “Ditch the Myth” website saying the rule reduces the scope of waters under its jurisdiction, “does not protect any waters that have not historically been covered under the Clean Water Act,” and “protects fewer waters” than before.

The judge ruled the EPA exceeded its authority in its update to the Clean Water Act, which has been opposed by agricultural, business, energy, housing development and other groups. A federal judge in West Virginia declined to block the rule in August.

Ohio

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has released up to $5 million for low-income homeowners to repair and replace failing onsite wastewater treatment systems. The Water Pollution Control Loan Fund provides the principal-forgiveness loans through local health districts, with each district eligible for a maximum of $300,000 in 2016. Local districts must nominate projects, which are then selected based on state EPA criteria. The program has been revived after being phased out two years ago. Another $18.5 million is available to communities to correct combined sewer overflows or to provide sanitary sewer for unserved areas.

Alabama

A state circuit court judge has issued a final ruling that requires remaining structures in a mobile home park and marina to be removed. Septic tank failures and graywater discharge problems resulted in a notice of violation to the property owner, Alabama Power Company, which leased the 37 acres to Lake Martin’s Pleasure Point Park and Marina. The company was cited in 2013 for 19 violations, including unpermitted and illegal septic systems and graywater discharges from the mobile homes, resulting in cancellation of the lease. Residents had reported problems to the operator of the mobile home park but say she did nothing to remedy the situation. About 80 families had to relocate their mobile homes. Alabama Power said it could cost up to $1 million to remove all illegal systems and clean up the property. Fewer than 30 structures remained on the land at the time of the final court ruling.

Arkansas

A lawsuit filed against the operator of a large onsite wastewater system alleges a decade of violations and overflows. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality filed the suit in August against Property Owners Improvement District Number 5, which provides onsite wastewater treatment for more than 400 homes in a subdivision near Farmington, Arkansas. ADEQ seeks $420,000 in penalties and proof that the operator can run the system properly.

Inspections found overflows from an aeration pond and manhole, along with solid waste on the ground and in a tributary of the Illinois River more than a mile away. An emergency order required the district to stop the discharges and to make repairs. The department says similar incidents occurred in 2007, 2008 and annually since 2012. The improvement district was fined $2,150 in 2014. According to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette newspaper, the operator claims the system is oversized, built for three times the number of homes it serves, so the wastewater levels don’t get high enough to move waste to the next stages of treatment.

Wisconsin

Amish families in Wisconsin will now be able to get a waiver from state plumbing, electrical and building codes that violate their religious beliefs. The exemption was included in this year’s state budget and is available to members of all established religious sects. The state has about 17,000 Amish, ranking it fourth in the nation, and some have been fined or evicted for violating codes. Under the waivers, the Amish will not have to install smoke or carbon monoxide detectors or follow electrical or plumbing codes of the state or local community that violate their religion. David Mortimor of the National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom says the law could be a model for other states.

Delaware

An effort to reduce nitrogen from septic tank effluent in the Chesapeake Bay watershed is running behind schedule. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation reports that reduction efforts are more than 10 percent behind schedule for the 2017 goals. Septic systems contribute 3 percent of the nitrogen in Delaware’s watershed, and 7 percent in Maryland. The two states require the use of the best available technology for new or replaced systems near the bay. That covers about 1,500 lots in Delaware and 52,000 in Maryland.



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