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Water Headlines for September 8, 2008Benjamin H. Grumbles Water Headlines is a weekly on-line publication that announces publications, policies, and activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water. In This Week’s Water Headlines:
EPA Provides Incentives for Clean Water Permit Fee ProgramsEPA is issuing a new rule that will provide financial incentives for states to use fees when administering a clean water permit program. EPA can give up to a total of $5.1 million to states that have adequate permit fees for their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) programs. "Clean water permit fees can be a great tool for gaining and sustaining progress," said Assistant Administrator for Water Benjamin H. Grumbles. "EPA's voluntary incentive program is a modest but meaningful step to encourage market-based solutions with our state partners." This rule is designed to encourage states to voluntarily implement adequate fee programs and shift part of the financial burden to those who benefit from the permits. It will also allow states to move funds to other critical water quality program activities. The increased cost of administering water permit programs has already prompted some states to implement permit fee programs to cover some costs. A number of states, however, still operate with little or no reliance on permit fees. The permit fee incentive will only be made available if federal funding for state water pollution control programs is more than the fiscal year 2008 level. Therefore, state grants will not decrease as a result of this rulemaking. The rule will be in effect for the fiscal year 2009 grant cycle and beyond. As authorized by the Clean Water Act, the NPDES permit program controls water pollution by regulating municipal, industrial and related sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States. About the Water Pollution Control Program Grants: http://www.epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/npdes-permit-fee.htm Vessel Permit Extension to December 19, 2008In July, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court's decision to vacate the NPDES regulatory exclusion for discharges incidental to the normal operation of a vessel (40 C.F.R. 122.3(a)) as of September 30, 2008. This means that as of that date, vessel discharges previously subject to the exclusion would be discharging without a permit under the Clean Water Act. Violations of this prohibition can subject dischargers to, among other things, citizen suits, which can result in the imposition of penalties of up to $32,500 per day per violation. In response to this court decision, EPA has been developing an NPDES general permit to cover these discharges. However, due to challenges associated with putting in place a permit that both effective and implementable by the September 30th deadline, EPA requested an extension to delay the vacatur date. On August 8, 2008, the court granted EPA's request for an extension and ordered that the exclusion be vacated as of December 19, 2008 instead of September 30. Subscribe to Water HeadlinesPlease forward this message to your friends and colleagues who share an interest in water-related issues and would like to hear from EPA’s Office of Water. To subscribe to the Water Headlines listserve: Send an email message, leave the subject line blank, and address it to: In the body of the message write: Subscribe Water Headlines first name last name (Please leave one blank space between each word, do not include any other message, and use your actual name- i.e. Subscribe Water Headlines Robert Jones)
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