Pointing out 60 days is not enough time for the construction industry to review and respond to the draft “Guidance on Identifying Waters Protected by the Clean Water Act” and supporting documentation, AGC has requested an extension of the comment period (currently to close on July 1) until September 30, 2011.On May 2, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed interagency guidance intending to clarify the extent of federal control over construction work in “waters of the United States.” The guidance, if adopted in its current form, will result in significantly more federally controlled waters that would require Clean Water Act (CWA) permits. The guidance also would apply to all programs authorized under the Act, including the Section 402 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program and affect the Construction General Permit (CGP) for stormwater discharges from active construction sites. The agencies also plan to undertake a related rulemaking in the future, and they likely will use the finalized guidance as a starting point.
To properly evaluate the impact of the guidance on the construction industry, AGC needs additional time to consider how it will affect field operations, other CWA programs and future rulemaking efforts.
In the June 7 request for extension letter, AGC also points out that the construction industry already is up against several regulatory deadlines and numerous proposed and anticipated rulemakings, of which stormwater-related initiatives are only a part. The industry needs additional time to respond to each individual rule and to properly evaluate the relationships between – and the cumulative effects of – the concurrent rulemaking efforts.
Current stormwater-related regulatory initiatives include—
- Proposed “Guidance on Indentifying Waters Protected by the Clean Water Act” and the anticipated rulemaking to follow (See links below for additional information and background);
- Proposed changes to the federal Construction General Permit to regulate stormwater discharges from active construction sites;
- Anticipated revisions to the new Construction and Development Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELGs) and the incorporation of the ELG requirements into state stormwater permits nationwide;
- Anticipated first-ever national post-construction rule that would mandate post-construction stormwater management; and
- Multiple total daily maximum load (TMDL) initiatives to limit sediment in watersheds across the United States, especially the “model” Chesapeake Bay TMDL.