House Transportation and Infrastructure Hearing on EPA’s Integrated Planning Approach

This week, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment conducted a hearing to examine the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Integrated Planning Approach (IPA) for municipal governments.  The IPA is a tool created by EPA in 2012 to help localities manage their Clean Water Act obligations more efficiently.  The Subcommittee invited four witnesses to testify on behalf of local governments.  The EPA was not present at this hearing. 

The witnesses testifying suggested the following changes to the policy:

• Make it a national policy to allow for permit deadline extensions within MS4 permits;
• Allow for adaptive management solutions;
• Prohibit DOJ and EPA from aggressively pursuing fines or penalties that do nothing to further the shared responsibility of cleaning our waters; and,
• Allow the integrated approach to provide protection from citizen suits like a Consent Decree.  

The EPA has yet to approve an Integrated Planning document.     

For additional information on federal issues, please contact RCRC Legislative Analyst Randall Echevarria at (916) 447-4806 or rechevarria@rcrcnet.org.