Category: Clean Water Act

LDEQ’s Spill Prevention and Control Rule Amendment

LDEQ finalized amendments to the Spill Prevention and Control Rule (SPC Rule) (LAC 33:IX.Chapter 9) on August 20, 2010.  WQ079.  Three main changes will be addressed.

1. A definition of ‘oil’ is provided.  Oil is “any kind or form of oil, including but not limited to: fats, oils, or greases from animal, fish, or marine mammal origin; vegetable oils, including oils from seeds, nuts, fruits, or kernels; and other oils and greases including petroleum, fuel oil, sludge, synthetic oils, mineral oils, oil refuse, and oil mixed with waste other than dredged spoil.”  Sec. 901.D.  This definition is identical to EPA’s current regulatory definition, which was added in 2002.  40 CFR 112.2; 67 Fed. Reg. 47075-6 (July 17, 2002). Continue reading “LDEQ’s Spill Prevention and Control Rule Amendment” →

Clean Water Restoration Act, S. 787 and SPCC Rule Finalized, Again

Clean Water Restoration Act, S.787

This bill (S. 787) seeks to substantially expand the jurisdictional reach of the Clean Water Act, and that of the regulatory agencies administering the Act, by amending two key definitions. S. 787 will remove the definition of ‘navigable waters’ that has been included in the Act since its enactment and will replace it with a new, broadly defined statutory term, ‘waters of the United States.’ That term has been defined in EPA and Corps regulations for many years. However, the bill will provide a statutory definition of the ‘waters of the United States’ that expands the prior regulatory definition to include, among other things, “all interstate and intrastate waters and their tributaries” and “wetlands” “to the fullest extent that these waters, or activities affecting these waters, are subject to the legislative power of Congress under the Constitution.” Note that the definition not only includes the actual waters, but ‘activities affecting these waters.’ Continue reading “Clean Water Restoration Act, S. 787 and SPCC Rule Finalized, Again” →