A recent New York Water Environment Association presentation hit close to home as it featured a case study from my own watershed, the Piscataqua River. At New York’s largest water quality conference and exhibition, Brown and Caldwell’s Clifton Bell presented “A Scientific and Regulatory Framework for Adaptive Management of Nitrogen Loading to Coastal Waters.”

As someone who regularly sees compliance and permitting projects across the country, hearing about the approaches and science behind managing nitrogen loading in my own local waters was both enlightening and reassuring. BC’s project team, including Clifton and Stacy Villanueva, worked to advance nutrient reduction planning and tracking. This presentation not only highlighted the importance of our local ecosystem, but also underscored the power of municipal collaboration in achieving sustainable water quality improvements.

I feel grateful and motivated, knowing that BC’s projects are contributing to a healthier environment in my community and beyond.

EPA and other agencies to review regulations under executive order

Questions? Reach out to Liz Wilson

President Trump issued an executive order on Feb. 19 directing the EPA and other agencies to identify and potentially repeal regulations that do not align with administration policy. The order emphasizes using enforcement discretion to deprioritize rules deemed unconstitutional or overly burdensome. Agencies must create a list of such regulations within 60 days.

Why it matters: The agency recommendations are not yet known, with regulated industrials assessing whether to rely on potential non-enforcement by EPA or if that approach presents too high a risk given that the rules are still in effect.

EPA releases Draft Sewage Sludge Risk Assessment for PFOA and PFOS

Natalie Sierra

On Jan. 14, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the Draft Sewage Sludge Risk Assessment for PFOA and PFOS for public comment. The draft reflects the EPA’s current scientific understanding of the potential health risks to agricultural households from PFOA and PFOS in sewage sludge that is land-applied or surface-disposed on or adjacent to their farms.

Why it matters: This draft assessment assesses worst-case risk to hypothetical, maximally exposed farm populations and does not apply to the population at large. However, the risk-based concentrations associated with the highest-exposure pathways are extremely low, especially for PFOA, and could drive unattainable compliance benchmarks.

Tamara Sorell

Looking for a quick overview? Check out the Top 10 conclusions about the draft risk assessment in this 3-minute read.

Questions? Reach out to National Practice Lead, Site Investigation and Remediation, Tamara Sorell or National Practice Lead, Solids and Energy, Natalie Sierra.

EPA withdraws Final Functional Equivalent Discharge Guidance from OMB Review

The Clean Water Act requires an NPDES permit for discharges of pollutants from a point source to navigable waters. In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that the “functional equivalent” of a point source discharge also requires an NPDES permit, extending this requirement to discharges traveling through groundwater. This ruling has led to citizen enforcement through lawsuits, with mixed outcomes. In 2023, the EPA issued draft guidance on determining functional equivalency, but it was withdrawn on Jan. 22.

Questions? Reach out to Kelly Collins

Why it matters: The lack of agency guidance leaves functional equivalency open to citizen suits as well as regulatory enforcement.