BC Compliance Watch: WOTUS
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in the County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund case on April 23. The central question in the case was whether discharges to…
BC Compliance Watch: TRI PFAS Reporting
The EPA issued a pre-publication final rule on May 18 adding 172 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the list of toxic chemicals subject to Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) reporting…
BC Compliance Watch: CWA Section 401 Rule
On July 13, the Federal Register published the final rule modifying Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 water quality certification requirements, making it effective immediately. The EPA had published the…
BC Compliance Watch: EPA Multi-Sector General Permit
On June 3, the 2015 EPA Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) expired, and the permit was administratively continued for discharges that were covered prior to permit expiration. For new or existing…
Yolo Bypass in the Sacramento Valley.
Steve Payer / California Department of Water Resources
BC Compliance Watch: California Industrial General Permit Amended
On July 1, 2020, California State Water Board’s November 2018 amendments to the Industrial General Permit Order took effect. The modifications implement Sufficiently Sensitive Analytical Test Methods, Total Maximum Daily…
BC Compliance Watch: Final “Lead Free” Rule
On July 29, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a final rule to significantly limit the lead content allowed in plumbing materials in accordance with the Reduction of Lead in…
BC Compliance Watch: Title V Air Permitting
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG), internal watchdog for the EPA, released a report outlining the findings of its recent audit that identified weaknesses in state implementation of the…
BC Compliance Watch: Water Subcabinet
On Oct. 13, President Trump signed an executive order on “Modernizing America’s Water Resource Management and Water Infrastructure.” It formally establishes a Water Subcabinet of senior federal agency officials to…
BC Compliance Watch: FAST-41 for mining
A proposed rule published by the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council would add mining as a sector of projects eligible for coverage under Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface…
BC Compliance Watch: NPDES permit PFAS recommendation
In November, the EPA announced significant actions to address PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in the environment. First, the Office of Water issued a memorandum from the PFAS National Pollutant…
BC Compliance Watch: Mining sector now eligible for FAST-41
After receiving nearly 6,500 public comments, the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council voted unanimously to add mining as a sector with infrastructure projects eligible for coverage under Title 41 of…
BC Compliance Watch: Lead and Copper Rule Long-Term Revisions
Updated June 1, 2021: On Jan. 15, 2021, the U.S. EPA published the final Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) under the authority of the Safe Drinking Water Act. The…