Questioning water pollution permit length

[Noctis]

Some states want to extend the timeframe for water pollution permits up to ten years, according to an E&E news article. I don't have the full article, but I believe the most important points are visible.

I find the idea hard to understand. Shouldn't we check the pollution level more often to avoid health issues?

 

[Eric]

Thanks for sharing this. I'm not super familiar with Section 402 NPDES permits but understand five years is the statutorily required maximum. That is, the requirement is included in the Clean Water Act itself (see Section 402(b)(1)(B)) and wasn't added separately in federal regulation. It would therefore take an act of Congress to change, which probably isn't politically feasible.

I recall that legislation extending the maximum term of NPDES permits from 5 to 10 years was voted out of committee earlier this year (i.e., H.R.7023; "Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act"), for what it's worth. It would be surprising if efforts to amend the Clean Water Act gained any further traction beyond that.

 

[Bob Sweeney]

Permit renewal should and I believe is usually fairly routine, assuming the required reporting and associated performance monitoring is up to speed. Those who fail to properly operate, maintain, monitor and report (OMM&R) should need closer scrutiny and be required to re-apply. Lets have a system that rewards folks who do the right thing. Thanks, Bob

 

[Eric]

Permit renewal should and I believe is usually fairly routine, assuming the required reporting and associated performance monitoring is up to speed. Those who fail to properly operate, maintain, monitor and report (OMM&R) should need closer scrutiny and be required to re-apply. Lets have a system that rewards folks who do the right thing. Thanks, Bob

Agreed. Speaking for 404 permitting (my purview), I agree renewals are pretty straightforward. For NPDES I imagine the state authority/EPA just makes sure you're current on all monitoring/compliance items, like you said. I would think that reissuance should be straightforward from there.

For Corps/404 permitting, we make sure the permittee's 401 WQC and CZMA consistency concurrence (as applicable) are valid for the time period we're extending/reissuing for. However, there could be other issues that delay reissuance or lead to reissuance with conditions, such as if compensatory mitigation isn't on track or if USFWS isn't satisfied with the permitee's progress implementing ESA conservation measures.