National Lawsuit Challenging Biden EPA’s Failure To Update Industrial Pollution Control Requirements Has Huge Implications For NJ
EPA’s National Pollution Control Technology Requirements Are 30 – 50 Years Old
NJ Industrial Polluters Are Subject To These Obsolete Lax Standards
NJ Environmental Groups Abandoned Regulatory Work A Decade Ago
A coalition of over 50 national and local environmental groups recently filed a lawsuit against US EPA (only the Raritan Riverkeeper signed on from NJ).
The lawsuit challenges EPA’s failure to update critically important industrial pollution control technology requirements for major industrial polluters, see:
The lawsuit addresses major industrial toxic polluters, including Organic chemical and plastics plants, Plastics molding and forming, Fertilizer plants, Inorganic chemicals, Nonferrous metals Manufacturing, and pesticide plants. (Notification letter to EPA):
In a 2019 opinion addressing national technology-based pollution limits, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit made clear that, “The Act therefore mandates a system in which, as available pollution control technologies advances, pollution discharge limits will tighten.” The court then chastised the agency for taking so long to revise discharge limits for power plants that dated back to 1982, “…the same year that saw the release of the first CD player, the Sony Watchman pocket television, and the Commodore 64 home computer.”
EPA has continued to ignore its statutory mandate and the Fifth Circuit’s warning. As can be seen in the chart below this letter, the discharge limits for 40 of the 59 industries subject to these standards are between 30 and 50 years old, including those applying to Inorganic Chemicals (1984), Petroleum Refining (1985), Fertilizer Manufacturing (1986), and the makers of Organic Chemicals, Plastics, and Synthetic Fibers (1994). As a result, many chemical plants, refineries, and other industrial facilities continue to discharge high volumes of nitrogen, phosphorus, salts, and chemical toxins that contribute to algae growth, endanger fish and other aquatic life, or limit the public’s use of river, lakes, and estuaries. Excepting the recently revised wastewater limits for coal-fired power plants, EPA has not completed action to bring the technology-based standards up to date for any industrial category for at least twenty years.
Because many industrial pollution sources in NJ are subject to these obsolete and lax EPA national standards, there are huge implications for NJ in terms of public health and environmental quality. This is especially critical because NJ relies on surface water (rivers) for drinking water supply and these rivers receive millions of gallons of toxic industrial discharges. DEP does not mandate state of the art treatment to remove these chemicals from drinking water.
I wrote about this issue 12 years ago, see:
It is difficult if not impossible to understand the full implications for NJ, because the NJ DEP no longer issues annual Reports that historically provided this information.
As DEP’s website – which hasn’t been updated for over a decade – states:
In 1990, the Legislature enacted substantial amendments to the Water Pollution Control Act (WPCA), commonly known as the Clean Water Enforcement Act, P.L. 1990, c. 28 (CWEA). The CWEA requires the department to inspect permitted facilities and municipal treatment works at least annually. Additional inspections are required when the permittee is identified as a significant noncomplier. The CWEA also requires the assessment of mandatory minimum penalties for violations of the WPCA that are considered serious violations and for violations by permittees designated as significant noncompliers.
The CWEA requires the department to submit a report on the implementation of the CWEA’s requirements to the Governor and the Legislature by March 31 of each year. The statute also specifies the items that the department must include in the report. The department has organized the required information into several categories, including Permitting, Enforcement, Delegated Local Agencies, Criminal Actions, Fiscal, and Water Quality Assessment.
(I took a screen shot, because this page will almost certainly be taken down).
The NJ DEP has not issued the legally mandated annual CWEA Report since 2010, 14 years ago!
I wrote to NJ legislators and DEP Commissioner LaTourette to demand that DEP comply with CWEA Reporting requirements and upgrade NJ State water pollution discharge permit limits based on current science and technology. Let’s hope our environmental groups and press corps wake up, see:
———- Original Message ———-
From: Bill WOLFE <b>
To: senbsmith <SenBSmith@njleg.org>, sengreenstein <sengreenstein@njleg.org>, “senmckeon@njleg.org” <senmckeon@njleg.org>, “asmScharfenberger@njleg.org” <asmScharfenberger@njleg.org>
Cc: “shawn.latourette@dep.nj.gov” <shawn.latourette@dep.nj.gov>, “fkummer@inquirer.com” <fkummer@inquirer.com>, “wparry@ap.org” <wparry@ap.org>, “jonhurdle@gmail.com” <jonhurdle@gmail.com>, “ferencem@njspotlightnews.org” <ferencem@njspotlightnews.org>, domalley <domalley@environmentnewjersey.org>, “agoldsmith@cleanwater.org” <agoldsmith@cleanwater.org>, “dpringle1988@gmail.com” <dpringle1988@gmail.com>, Anjuli Ramos <anjuli.ramos@sierraclub.org>, “Taylor McFarland, NJ Sierra Club” <taylor.mcfarland@sierraclub.org>, Maya K van Rossum <maya@forthegenerations.org>, “tracy@delawareriverkeeper.org” <tracy@delawareriverkeeper.org>, MJ King <trhugger@yahoo.com>, Julia Somers <julia@njhighlandscoalition.org>, Ruga Elliott <elliott@njhighlandscoalition.org>, Mark Lohbauer <mlohbauer@jgscgroup.com>, “ben.spinelli@highlands.nj.gov” <ben.spinelli@highlands.nj.gov>, “keith.cooper@rutgers.edu” <keith.cooper@rutgers.edu>
Date: 05/16/2024 8:43 AM EDT
Subject: Clean Water – Lawsuit
Dear Chairman Smith and Legislators:
I write to bring your attention to NJ specific implications of a recent lawsuit filed by 50 environmental groups challenging US EPA’s failure to update Clean Water Act pollution control technology requirements and effluent guidelines for industrial pollution sources, see:
Coalition Takes Action Against EPA for Failing to Implement Clean Water Act
https://environmentalintegrity.org/news/action-against-epa-for-failing-to-implement-clean-water-act/
“The discharge limits for 40 of the 59 industries subject to these standards are between 30 and 50 years old, including those applying to Inorganic Chemicals (1984), Petroleum Refining (1985), Fertilizer Manufacturing (1986), and the makers of Organic Chemicals, Plastics, and Synthetic Fibers (1994). As a result, many chemical plants, refineries, and other industrial facilities continue to discharge high volumes of nitrogen, phosphorus, salts, and chemical toxins that contribute to algae growth, endanger fish and other aquatic life, or limit the public’s use of river, lakes, and estuaries. Excepting the recently revised wastewater limits for coal-fired power plants, EPA has not completed action to bring the technology-based standards up to date for any industrial category for at least twenty years.”
https://environmentalintegrity.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Updated-CWA-sign-on-letter-5.2.24.pdf
There are many industrial facilities in New Jersey that are subject to these obsolete EPA effluent guidelines. The NJ DEP issued water pollution control permits (NJPDES) for many of these facilities are governed by the flawed industrial effluent guidelines. According to DEP’s most recent CWEA Report (2010),DEP regulates 640 point source discharges to NJ waters.
As a result, the large majority of NJ’s waters fail to meet surface water quality standards. This is particularly important to public health and environmental quality given NJ’s industrial legacy, population density, reliance on surface waters for drinking water supplies and lack of state of the art drinking water treatment systems to remove toxic chemicals.
It is difficult to determine even approximately how many facilities in NJ are subject to these obsolete and lax industrial effluent guidelines and where those pollution discharges are located (e.g. upstream of water supply intakes), because the NJ DEP has failed to issue the annual Report mandated by the Clean Water Enforcement Act for 14 years. That’s right: DEP has failed to comply with the CWEA for 14 years. See:
https://www.nj.gov/dep/enforcement/report-cwea.html
Similarly, NJ DEP’s Clean Water Act water quality Reports mandated by Section 303(d) and 305(b) have been seriously watered down over the last 15 years such that there is literally no information or data analysis provided to the public about water quality conditions, permit issues, or compliance and enforcement status.
Given these facts, I urge you to conduct oversight of NJ DEP’s water pollution control permitting program and enact much needed mandates to NJ DEP to comply with current reporting requirements under the CWEA and adopt NJ specific effluent guidelines and pollution control requirements given US EPA’s failure to update them.
Bill Wolfe
End Note: I wrote about a US GAO Report on these EPA failures 12 years ago, so NJ DEP is fully aware of these issues, see:
GAO Report Finds EPA Fails To Control Industrial Water Polluters
http://www.wolfenotes.com/2012/10/gao-report-finds-epa-fails-to-control-industrial-water-polluters/