EPA Publishes Fall Regulatory Agenda
This week, the administration published the semiannual regulatory agenda which covers regulatory actions either recently completed, planned, or in process for all federal agencies, including EPA. In the posting for the agenda, the administration touted it’s deregulatory actions, citing 1579 delayed or withdrawn actions. When compared to new regulations, this number is even better than the 2:1 requirement in Executive Order 13771. According to the introduction to the agenda, the priority for 2018 will be a 3:1 ratio for withdrawn regulations compared to new rules. For EPA specifically, there are three priorities listed in the Improving Water Quality area – Waters of the US, effluent guidelines for power plants, and the revised Lead and Copper Rule. Coincidentally, two of these are deregulatory actions and only one (the LCR) is a new rule.
Included on the detailed agenda itself are a number of rule actions for drinking water. Most of the listings are under Long Term Actions. The action dates reflect the timetable in the Agenda, but many of these may slip due to workload and budget considerations within EPA.
- Radon – an old rule originally proposed in the 1990’s which has been dormant for years – final action “To Be Determined”
- Aldicarb – a stayed MCL undergoing further risk analysis and with no recent activity – final action “To Be Determined”
- Perchlorate – currently under development and subject to a court-ordered deadline – final action expected December 2019
- Carcinogenic VOCs – some previous development work by an internal workgroup (including states) and EPA indicates they will solicit further input from the Science Advisory Board, the National Drinking Water Advisory Council, and others – final action expected December 2020
- Finished Water Storage Inspection – being considered as an addendum to the RTCR but with little recent public activity – proposal expected December 2019
- Lead Free Pipes, Fittings, and Fixtures – codifying the new lead-free standard in the SDWA – final action expected January 2019
The LCR long Term Revisions show up under the Proposed Rule Stage. The listing describes the actions so far to develop a rule and indicates that EPA is still evaluating the costs and benefits. Although not mentioned here, EPA is doing outreach on critical rule issues with state and local government entities under a “Federalism Consultation”. See a separate post for more information about this activity. The proposed rule is expected in August of 2018 and the final rule in February 2020. The time already allocated for the Federalism Consultation makes these dates challenging.
To access the regulatory agenda and related information, please go to https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaMain.
