GCCA Joins Coalition Comments on Clean Water Act Proposed Rule

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently proposed a rule entitled “Clean Water Act Hazardous Substance Worst Case Discharge Planning Regulations” that raises concerns about potential impacts to industry.  GCCA has joined with an industry coalition to submit comments highlighting concerns with the proposal.  The coalition comments urge the EPA to reconsider several aspects of the Clean Water Act Hazardous Substance Worst Case Discharge Planning Regulations proposed rule to make the final rule workable for regulated companies, including small businesses, that will be required to comply. As currently proposed, the rule appears to be too expansive, vague in some areas, and impractical for compliance.

This proposed rule would require all facilities that are within 0.5 miles of a navigable waterway (or a conveyance to a navigable waterway) and have the capacity to house 10,000 times a reportable quantity of a CWA hazardous substance to submit a substantial harm criteria assessment. If a criterion is met, the facility is required to submit a facility response form.  If a facility meets the requisite harm criteria, they would be required to submit a facility response plan to the EPA.

The most comprehensive aspect of facility response plans are the hazard evaluation requirements under which facilities must assess the endpoints of all CWA hazardous substances, examine impacts to environmental justice communities, consider impacts of climate change, and more. Industry is concerned that imposing such extensive hazard evaluation requirements via the proposed rule would put unnecessary costs on facilities, while being extremely difficult to carry out. The coalition comments urge EPA to consider whether the rule requirements are actually needed for some or all of the industry sectors and hazardous substances that would be covered by the proposed rule and prioritizes creating requirements that can be easily understood, evenly enforced across facilities, and reasonably followed.