August 7, 2002
Bush Admin. to Draft Cleanup Rule
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:41 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration said Wednesday it is drafting a new rule to govern the cleanup of pollution in more than 20,000 lakes, ponds, streams and rivers across the country. The move has been opposed by environmental groups, who say developing a new regulation will delay water cleanups and remove existing pollution controls. ``We feel it's important to move forward on working on a regulation,'' said Ben Grumbles, an official with the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water. He said one goal is to improve existing rules ``so that more water bodies and watersheds are cleaned up more quickly and effectively.''

Many details of the new rule are still being worked out, he said. There is no time frame for when the regulation will be completed. Joan Mulhern, a Washington attorney for the San Francisco-based Earthjustice law firm, said the Bush administration plans ``a rewrite of Clean Water Act rules that we believe is intended to allow states and polluters to evade their responsibility for cleaning up waters that are too polluted for swimming, fishing or other uses.''

A coalition of 10 of the largest environmental groups asked EPA Administrator Christine Whitman last month not to develop the new rules. The groups said the government should focus on making existing rules work and the effort might delay or derail pollution cleanups. ``We respectfully disagree with that,'' Grumbles said. Under the 1972 Clean Water Act, states must develop lists of bodies of water that do not meet minimum federal water quality standards. States must establish a ``total maximum daily load'' of pollution that will be allowed in those impaired waterways. The EPA must approve a state's lists or create a list for the state.

The agency's most recent changes to the rule went into effect in 1992. A Clinton-era program from mid-2000 sought to require states to develop detailed plans to reduce storm water and agriculture runoff pollution in impaired waterways. Congress stopped the regulation from taking effect and the Bush administration has kept it on hold. Last year, a National Academy of Sciences panel said the Clinton-era program had been put in place without enough evidence to ensure the right bodies of water were being targeted.

That regulation had been supported by environmentalists, but opposed by a broad range of interests, including agriculture groups, the utility industry and many governors. Critics said the requirements would cost billions and take away the flexibility states need to deal with water pollution problems. The new rule being developed would circumvent the Clinton-era proposal and build on regulations currently in effect. The rule will take into account recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences panel and would focus on improving the process of listing and monitoring waterways, the agency said.Grumbles said there are improvements needed to strengthen the science behind the program.